The Dead Boy
by Rasputin Zero
Summary: Book 3: Fire. Chapter 1. Aang and his friends must travel to the West of the Earth Kingdom to find a Firebending Teacher, but he's suffered consequences from Azula's lightning strike...and he isn't entirely there. Zuko returns to the Fire Nation. Complete
1. In From The Cold

**Avatar: The Last Airbender**

**Created by Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko**

**Book 3: Fire**

**Chapter 1: The Dead Boy**

* * *

The sun rose behind the ship, bathing their surroundings in an evanescent red glow. It was a sign of many things, that the ship brought with it the great victory of the Fire Nation over the Earth Kingdom, that the Fire Nation as a whole was rising victorious over the horizon, and for the homesick soldiers and sailors on-board that they had finally arrived in their homeland. The confident young Fire Princess, her uniform slightly creased from yesterday's activity but still looking a million tons of gold, her hair flapping lazily either side of her face, cared little for such pointless theatricalities, but she appreciated their uses, and couldn't help but feel the sun rising behind her highly opportune timing. She had risen some hours before sunrise chiefly in order to accentuate this moment, if not for the benefit of her crew members then for the benefit of her welcoming committee.

Azula stood near the prow of her enormous vessel as it chugged its way through the silvery early-morning water. Before her, bathed in the morning sun, was the first of several massive locks, a grey, metallic construction that was planted on the rocky coastline. Across it was emblazoned the symbol of the Fire Nation, which appeared to have been repainted a fresh coat of red just for the occasion. A uniformed operator standing on a platform close to the lock gate diligently signalled to the ship with his arms, and Azula presumed that behind her one of the Royal Ship's commanding crew members was signalling in response. This was obviously the case because the lock operator promptly signalled an acknowledgement and pulled a switch embedded with the platform. Atop the gate was the symbol of three dragons, meticulously polished compared to the grime of the rest of the gate, that un-entwined themselves from each other mechanically in a manner blatantly intended to impress visitors. The gate groaned, clunked, and pulled itself open. Another lock gate slowly emerged behind it, at the other end of the first lock. It was a tedious process, but Azula was prepared to survive it this special day.

Footsteps clinked on the metal plates behind her, and Azula noticed that they sounded a lot softer than Fire Nation boots, so she could take an educated guess that it was one of her honoured guests. The man behind her took a deep breath of the clear morning air, and Azula immediately narrowed the possibilities to one.

"Enjoy the clean air while it lasts," Azula suggested, "chances are you won't see a lot of it the next few days."

"Thank you for the suggestion, but you needn't worry," came Long Feng's reply, "I can easily adapt my daily routine around my surroundings."

"You flatter yourself a little too much if you think I was worried about you," Azula responded without looking back. She noticed the contrast. While she had busied herself with leaving port before dark and interrupted her preparations with light snacks, taking care to be up before dawn, Long Feng had eaten a hearty meal, gone to bed at 10 in the evening and woke up at precisely 6 in the morning. She could hazard a guess at the meditative practices and dressing exercises he had gone through before emerging at her side, but she honestly wasn't that bored. She just surmised that Long Feng, with nothing to prove anymore, had simply resigned himself to living like the walking clock he really was deep down inside. It was a state of affairs Azula was relieved she would never have to live through. She never had anything to prove in the first place.

The ship had glided into the lock, and Azula could feel the engines grind down beneath her feet as the vessel paused to allow the gate behind them to close. There was a murmur of activity around them as Fire Nation sentries crowded around to see their Fire Princess' return. Behind them came a few members of their families, and other residents of the area. Word of the Truce had spread amongst the people of the Fire Nation, and many recognised that this was a once-in-a-lifetime event taking place before their eyes. Azula had infiltrated Ba Sing Se to negotiate with the Earth King personally, and the Earth King had seen wisdom in trusting the Fire Nation and accommodating their needs. And here she was, with the Earth King's personal representative, to sign a peace treaty. Though the Water Tribe remained at war with the Fire Nation, and the Avatar continued to conspire against them, the Hundred Years' War was finally coming to an end.

"Excellent timing, Long Feng," Azula felt some grounds for complement, "don't wave and don't make eye contact, just stand there looking confident. It shows that we trust each other."

"I think I know how to manipulate a crowd," said Long Feng snarkily, "so, Your Highness, exactly how much longer do you intend this…_fiction…_to continue?"

"That's for me to know and for you to continue wracking your brains over until the day you die," Azula shut down Long Feng's room for manoeuvre. She wasn't going to give him a scrap more information than he needed.

"And when will that day be?" Long Feng asked non-chalantly.

"You'll find out," Azula loved to keep him hanging. Behind her the gates closed tight, and the three dragons entangled themselves in a mechanical embrace. On either side of the lock were a dozen huge metal dragon-heads, their mouths wide open to allow water to burst from them. Azula had learnt that the Northern Water Tribe had a similar arrangement for the protection of their City of the North. It just went to show that fire could do anything any other element could, if redirected for the right purposes. Her gaze shifted to notice the gathering crowd, a lot of nervous excitement and young, smiling faces, eager for a day out. A lesser leader would seize the opportunity to make a speech, but she knew how to keep a crowd hanging.

Another pair of feet joined the two at the prow of the ship. These feet were strong but far from confident. She knew who it had to be. She had been surprised earlier to see the very same person awake at the same hour she was. This surprise turned to amusement when she realised he'd never gone to bed. She could see the boy in her minds' eye: some attempt made at cleaning himself up, but bloodshot eyes and heavy breathing giving away his exhaustion. But nevertheless it was good to have him there for appearances' sake. It made much more sense to have a potential opponent on the Fire Nation's side. Make him feel accommodated enough and he may be gratified sufficiently to not notice the modified state of the line of succession.

"Good to see you, brother," Azula cracked a grin, "no waving, no eye contact, it shows we trust each…"

"I'll act however I damn well want to act," the Fire Prince pouted.

Azula couldn't help but let out a small chortle. It was so…Zuzu. She turned to look at her brother to see a very grim-faced, scarred, but rather handsome young man, in practical red and black clothing and still sporting that ridiculous mop of hair he'd acquired while on the run. She felt it necessary to make a few practical beachheads in his psyche. As her head turned the water ceased pouring and the gates ahead opened. A second lock lay ahead, and the ship began churning its way forward once again.

"No uniform and no top-knot," Azula commented dryly, "feeling like going on the run some more, Prince Zuko?"

"I won't accept my honour until father gives it to me," Zuko chanted. Azula need not have worried about the waving and eye contact. Zuko was manifestly in the mood for neither of those things.

Azula's face fell sardonically and she found herself facing forward again. "I think you can safely consider father's honour _given_. The response we received back at Ba Sing Se suggested as such."

"I need it to be in person," Zuko announced.

"Okay, Zuzu, now you're just being silly," Azula turned back to her brother, "you've helped bring down a fortress that Uncle couldn't bring down after 600 days of trying. You have earned your way into the history books, no two ways about it. Tell him, Long Feng."

"Don't ask me, I've no opinion one way or the other," Long Feng answered honestly.

"History means nothing to me," Zuko insisted, "all I care about is my honour."

"You have my word, brother," Azula declared.

"Since when has that meant anything?" Zuko demanded, looking Azula straight in the eyes.

Azula stared back, and the tense silence that followed was interrupted only the clunking of the second lock gate behind them. Soon after, another set of dragon heads began flooding the lock. In the crowd that had gathered, while most were rapt at the mere sight of the Fire Princess, some were looking a tad puzzled.

Long Feng strangled a cough. "Your Highness, people are watching…"

"_I know_," Azula responded testily, hands on hips. She made herself relax and stepped towards Zuko, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking sympathetic, letting her next words sound sincere, "I realise you feel betrayed, but you were able to look past that and see what was best for the Fire Nation. That takes courage, Zuko. And for your courage and service towards our people…I'm going to show you your reward…"

Azula laid her arm across Zuko's shoulders and led him forward towards the prow. Long Feng kept a respectable distance from the siblings, frankly mystified at the convoluted connections between the two. Azula made certain there was nothing before Zuko's vision except the third lock gate, as the water reached its height, the three dragons slid themselves apart and the massive steel doors opened. Before them, twisting and winding a considerable distance, was a canal, weaving its way through a landscape of vibrant red hillsides, luscious gold fields, snow-capped peaks and industrious homesteads. Before the two heirs to the throne of the Fire Lord stood their homeland.

"This is the land you fought for, Zuko, the land that is grateful for your devotion and your sacrifice, and the land that will welcome you back," Azula said into Zuko's ear, "welcome home, Fire Prince Zuko."

Zuko was overwhelmed at the sight. He had forgotten how beautiful it was, how entrenched in his memory. His eyes screwed shut and he looked down to avoid the tears. But this only served to mask his pang of guilt. Azula talked of feeling betrayed, but there was one other on board who felt more betrayed than he did. He was still shackled deep in the bowls of the ship, and Zuko hadn't laid eyes on him for the entire trip. He hadn't dared to. The scorn the man showed him in the Old City was painful enough for him, he dared not repeat it. But he was still haunted by the old man's presence, and to know that he was still here was bad enough. He may have remained loyal to the Fire Nation but his betrayal of his beloved uncle, the former General Iroh, felt far worse, no matter what Azula said about him. He never dared sleep, for fear of the dreams he may have.

The ship travelled further into Fire Nation territory, the canal weaving its way towards the Fire Lord's capital. The crowd was still growing, and each and every one of them felt their hearts fill at the sight of the Fire Lord's children returning together triumphant in their victory. Nothing could stop the Fire Nation now, allied with the Earth Kingdom, and the end of the war with the Fire Lord holding the balance of the world in his hand was only a matter of time. There was still the devious Avatar to contend with, the last of the Airbenders who had plotted to ruin the Fire Nation and its right to fulfil its destiny 100 years before, but the news from this front was encouraging. Azula had dealt the Avatar Spirit itself a fatal blow in a close and violent struggle, and no one had seen him for this past fortnight. But despite this heartening news, they had to remain vigilant. Until there was proof that the Avatar was dead, the Fire Nation would never be safe.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	2. The Boy In The Iceberg

Aang couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed. There wasn't enough difference between the two for him to make up his mind. They both looked equally fuzzy. Sounds were even harder, because there was a loud and consistent buzz whenever he tried to listen to anything. Maybe the buzz was always there and he hadn't noticed? Either way, there was no question of smell, taste, touch, balance, heat detection or pain reception. Baby steps, Aang, baby steps. Find something to latch onto and go for it.

Fear.

He didn't fear the lightning that coursed through him. He could see the arcs of light dance in his mind's eye, and they melted away like syrup. It was back-handed and petty. Dangerous though it was, it didn't deserve his fear.

Guilt.

He had failed to defend Ba Sing Se. It was this failure to defend those he loved that always got to him. But it happened, and he did all he could. No use dwelling on it now.

Shame.

He had lied about mastering the Avatar State, and hadn't attempted to solve it until it was too late. But he had to accept his passions were too strong. It was just a part of who he was. It couldn't be otherwise.

Sorrow.

He felt cold, alone, after such blinding heat. He felt himself falling, and yet didn't feel a thing. He felt alone, and sorrowful for all he'd left behind. But in the distance, approaching around him, he could feel himself merging with something greater. He could hear laughter. Child-like, honest laughter, out of sheer joy of life. How can he feel sorrow around such love?

Evasion.

He had a responsibility to master the Avatar State. He couldn't skirt around it again like before.

Illusion.

He had felt he could counter Azula and the Dai Li on his own, turn the tables on them. But it would need all of them. Every being in the world was a part of this. Everything affects everything else.

Attachment.

This is bigger than Katara now. Bigger than Ba Sing Se and the people in it. This is bigger than everything. Nothing else matters now except the balance.

And like a fog lifting, Aang could tell night and day by twitching his eye-lids. The buzz cleared and his hearing could pick up, as if it were a thousand miles away, Katara's voice. Strange, he thought, that she was always the first thing he sensed.

"A…Aang. Aang!" Katara echoed in the distance of his mind, "Sokka! Aang's awake!"

What Sokka said was only barely intelligible to Aang, but cleared as the Water Tribe warrior came closer…"…he's just going to drift back out again, he's done it half a dozen times."

"No…it's alright," Aang could hear Toph's voice even though it was further away than Sokka's had been, and he could just about make out two blue blobs before him, "I can feel his heartbeat, it's calm and regular, and his breathing's stable. He's awake."

"Thanks, Toph, it's nice to see some _positive thinking _around here," Katara was much clearer now to his hearing, and a green blob had joined the two blue ones. Things didn't have texture to them yet, but he was starting to feel the cotton blankets around him, which was a plus.

"After all that's happened, I think we can excuse a little _denting _of the optimism here," Sokka complained, his tanned skin, as well as Katara's, becoming distinguishable in Aang's vision from Toph's pale complexion…as well as a distinguishable fidgeting white blob on Toph's shoulder, "but I guess you got a point. Aang? Aang! Can…you…hear…the…sound…of…my…voice?"

Aang felt it was as good a time as any to attempt to use his vocal chords. "I'm alright…Sokka…I'm not…brain-dead." His voice felt raspy and stiff to him. It sounded like a chorus of frogs to his ears. Though it would be some time before he entirely trusted his ears. At once he realised that he was leaning back at an angle on some kind of slanted surface. He slowly began moving some unresponsive muscles to sit himself up and nearly lost his balance all over again, but his senses were coming back to him with surprising ease. He was able to make the rest of the group out right down to the eyes on their faces, though they were still blurry.

Katara leant forward to warn him, "be careful, Aang. You've been in and out of it for the last two weeks. You're still not fully recovered yet."

"I'm alright…" Aang asserted, shortly before the sudden change of position led to a fresh burst of blood into his head making it feel like it was inflating like a frog's throat. For some reason he kept reminding himself of frogs. He looked back up at Katara and realised something in what she said, "it's been two weeks? Where are we? And…what happened to your hair?"

Aang's vision had mostly returned, and Katara's pig-tail and 'hair loopies' had decidedly disappeared, and a not unattractive fuzzy mess of black hair had replaced it. Katara seemed to dismiss the comment, stating "we're in the Eastern Air Temple. We've been hiding out here to let you recover…but…we don't know how long we can stay here. Do you feel you can move?"

"I feel fine…mostly…" Aang closed his eyes and squinted as he brought a hand up to his head, "I've just got a splitting headach…ch…ch…"

Aang spluttered and froze at the horror of what he was feeling under the tips of his fingers. He gave the surface of his skin a further experimental rub to confirm that his demented imagination wasn't just making it up…a fine layer of some mysterious fuzzy substance had attached itself to his skull, covering it in a prickly, parasitic morass. He gurgled in terror.

"G…guys?" Aang squealed, "there's…something wrong with my head…"

"It's called _hair_, Aang," Sokka confirmed with some mirth, "and…you're welcome by the way. Keeping you _alive _was hardly an easy task. So I thought you'd appreciate if we considered things like _shaving your head _to be pretty unimportant besides."

"Hair?" Aang rubbed some more, a little mournfully, "I always wondered what it felt like…"

"Man, you're pretty self-conscious for a monk, aren't you?" Toph commented. Aang turned and realised that it was Momo who was sitting on Toph's shoulder. Without Aang to play with, the two seemed to have bonded somehow…in ways mysterious to Aang because Toph bonding with much of anyone seemed perplexing and peculiar to him. Toph leant down to pick up a dropped cherry and threw it up to Momo to keep him occupied with peeling something, while still facing Aang, approximately.

Aang took a deep breath and focused. Yes, he had hair. Lots of people have hair. It's just appearance. Get over it. You can't afford to be hung up on attachments like this. At this realisation a sudden calming wave washed over him, and he surprised himself with how easily he got over it. He even felt a lot better, and looked at his arms moving to see that he had managed to recover very succinctly. In looking at himself under the blankets, he also couldn't help but notice his lack of clothing. So, onto the next baby step.

"Thanks for taking care of me, everyone," Aang began, "but I think I'll try to get up. Where are my clothes?"

"Oh…about that…" Katara placed an arm behind her head in embarrassment, "I tried salvaging your clothes but…there was a great big hole in them. Actually, you could say there was…more hole than clothes."

Aang took this news of the demise of his clothing without much enthusiasm, and instinctively felt along the back of his spine. Azula's scar was still there, seemingly imprinted for the rest of time, and led Aang to glib "there's more hole than _me _right now. Maybe we'd match?"

"Sorry, kid, but even little sis' mastery of the tailoring arts wasn't enough to save your clothes," Sokka added distractedly from across the clearing they were in, busily sharpening his boomerang. His comment earned him a sharp slap of water from Katara, drawing from a small pool in the centre of the clearing.

It was when Sokka made his comment that Aang paid attention to his surroundings for the first time. They appeared to be on a raised platform, leading down and back upwards to other platforms around this part of the temple, surrounded by hills that closed off this section of the Eastern Air Temple to the outside world. It was a handy…and beautiful…place to hide. Though on a raised platform, it laid on a rocky outcrop that rose above the stonework, from which a scraggly and thin cherry tree jutted out in full bloom and water cascaded from a ledge high above into a pool that had formed on the edge of the platform. The section he was resting on seemed to have been propped up by Toph's handiwork.

Looking around, it may not have been 100 years for him, but for the first time Aang felt like it had been a hundred years since he'd seen the Air Temples. The reality of distance was a hard thing to sink in. But over the course of winter and spring it had eminently sunk. The distance was even starting to worry him, about his Airbending self. But it was useless to worry about such things, especially around these surroundings, because it felt so comfortably like home. With Katara and Sokka fighting, Toph listening with impatient interest, Appa snoring heavily nearby below the platform, Momo clambering off Toph's shoulder to gather more cherries that had dropped from the cherry tree in full bloom above…

In full bloom. It was the summer. He had no time to waste anymore, he needed to get moving, and a sense of urgency entered his voice when he said, "so is there anything I can wear?"

The shared glance amongst the three of them…even Toph, weirdly enough…was palpable, like the question was somehow extremely awkward. But Katara attempted to hide this, "of course! We didn't have a lot of options but we managed to find something your size…"

Katara embarrassedly opened up her bag to reveal Aang's brand-spanking new outfit. It was small, practical, and looked just right for him…except it was red. Katara looked down at the ground in some disappointment, and Aang was just plain confused until Sokka piped up to fill in the blanks: "yes, it's Fire Nation, and yes we really did try to find something else, but you've got to understand, Aang, we can't go anywhere with Appa without being spotted. We snuck down the mountain and some Fire Nation traders had just set up a new trading post and…well…they had a lot of these, so we decided to get one because they were cheap and no one else in the area has anything your size and…well…yeah…I'm…I'm sorry Aang…"

"It's okay," Aang shrugged, with complete neutrality, "I know you did the best you could, but I don't mind it, really. If I can live with hair I can live with red clothes."

This complete contentment and acceptance shocked even Toph, who couldn't help but lay a hand on the floor and check if he was lying or if he really was this un-Aangy. Katara recovered from the shock a little and leant forward to give Aang the clothes. As he dressed himself she stammered her next point.

"Well, uh, since you're in that kind of mood…I guess…uh…you know your staff?" Katara ventured.

"What about it?" Aang asked innocently, getting used to the differences in clothing styles between his old clothes and these new ones. He wasn't too used to lacking sleeves.

"Katara left it behind in the Old City," Toph said as accusingly as possible with one hand on the ground. While Katara shot Toph a glance, she realised what the blind girl was up to when she saw the look of concentration on Toph's face. She glanced quickly back at Aang, who looked almost reassuringly put-upon, until his face cleared with alarming rapidity.

"I was nearly killed back there. My staff should've been the last thing you'd be worried about," Aang looked Katara in the eyes and laid a hand on her shoulder, "and…I realise I never had the chance to thank you. Without you I would've died…thank you, Katara."

Their eyes remained locked for a lengthy amount of time, and Katara could see that Aang meant every one of those words with an earnestness that assured her that Aang was still there. But Aang seemed to realise this himself, and forced his eyes away. Katara could sense something was wrong. They could all feel it. Toph could feel it physically. Even Momo had paused in his cherry-stuffing to look at Aang with some panged curiosity.

Aang attempted to stand up, trying to allow his feet to support his weight. Though uncertain at first, and needing Katara for support at times, he got the hang of the good old 'left foot goes after the right foot' in no time. He wandered over to the edge of the platform to look around the temple, with its peaks and shallows. In an alcove he could see on the other side of the mountain, he could spy for the first time a couple of small figures, one of which was walking to and fro in much fretfulness and the other looking large, brown and innately curious about its surroundings. He'd forgotten about the two of them. But questions about that sort of thing would have to come later.

As of that moment, he was engrossed in his surroundings. With his friends behind him, Momo creeping up beside him, Appa chewing on a branch beneath him, and the spirit of the Airbenders all around him. He could feel a strange, metaphysical oneness with everything, but at the same time a peculiar emptiness. He looked back into the pool at the corner of the platform to see his own reflection. He looked unrecognisable to himself, with his loose red clothing and the arrow on his head hidden underneath his newly formed fuzz of hair. As much to get rid of the image as to quench his thirst, he leant down and slapped water all over his face, drinking up the fresh stream. When that proved insufficient, he dunked his whole face in.

This elicited a satisfying giggle from Katara, and Aang stood up again with a sardonic smile, looking himself over and saying, "well, I'm arrow-less, staff-less and orange-clothing-less, but at least I got my friends…my family…" Aang looked over the group as a whole, "and I'm still the Avatar."

To prove the point, Aang let his energies flow up his arms to bring the water up and shower over himself. He felt he could get a decent laugh out of it, just to assure them that it was still Aang inside this mysterious shell. But when there came only stunned silence, he realised with a start that he was still bone dry. He looked at the still water, concentrated, and tried again to produce a flow, one hand over another. The water didn't even ripple. The flow was gone.

Aang looked at his hands in panic. He attempted to calm himself and deal with the problem, and saw the rocky outcrop ahead of him. He grounded his feet, took a strong stance, and thrust a clenched fist in the direction of the rock. It didn't budge. Breathing harshly, he found it harder to calm down and focus, to accept the situation and handle it, and brought himself back to the move he had made himself. From a fixed position he rapidly spun around and tried to spin the air beneath him. All he got for his efforts was his new clothes getting wet in the pool and a scraped elbow.

The group gathered up around Aang, unsure what to do. Only Momo ventured so far as the edge of the pool, and no one could see Aang's face, as he moved around and looked down, sitting dejected and defeated in the centre of the pool. When he looked at the rest of them, he had tears in his eyes.

Aang started, stopped, faltered, sniffed, gasped, and finally said "I…I can't bend…"

Aang brought his knees together and locked his arms around them, burying his head in his legs, soaking wet and shuddering from the tears. Katara crept in closer to embrace him, while the others stayed motionless as if a bolt of lightning had hit _them _as well. The Avatar, the world's last hope for peace, was helpless.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	3. Light At The End Of The Tunnel

"By the Mandate of the Earth, I hereby decree that this day be declared a public holiday, in thanks for the Avatar's recovery and the continued prosperity and safety of the Earth Kingdom! Schools will be closed and public affairs suspended for the day in order that everyone in this kingdom be able to participate in rapturous celebration! Let there be song and jollity! By the Mandate of the Earth this will be done!"

The Earth King's voice echoed around the dusty interiors of the Eastern Air Temple, leading an increasingly scraggly bear to look up and take notice, briefly clapping in appreciation before continuing to chew on the branch before him. The Earth King himself stood in the gloom in an authoritative pose, one arm thrust upward and the other laid on his chest, clad in rather austere clothing compared to what he was used to. His voice echoed back on himself, and his face fell.

"Oh…it's just not the same!" the Earth King declared in a less than kingly way, dropping back down on the steps that led back from the opening before him, the vaulted and dusty entrance hall to the Air Temple being a less than perfect substitute for his previous lofty abodes. He rested his head on his hands in a funk, only to pick up again when he saw a series of figures emerge in the light of the opening. He recognised the small figure that approached and the others that followed him, even if his head was somewhat fuzzier…and his breath a tad short. He called to the figure, "Avatar! You're feeling better now!"

"Kinda…this temple wasn't built with much walking in mind," Aang gasped for breath, then straightened himself up, "I'm glad you're well…uh…sorry about your…kingdom, Your Majesty…"

"Oh, no need for that anymore, I'm not king of much of anything right now," the Earth King sulked, before a thought crossed his mind and he searched his clothing for some sign of an official declaration, finding one crumpled in a back pocket. He opened it and peered at the calligraphy through the gloom before falteringly stating "uh…you can call me…Kuei…I think…"

"You're not sure?" Aang asked straight out, while his three companions and one pet appeared beside him.

"That's what it says my name is…" Kuei held the declaration bearing his personal seal before him, "I'm not sure. I've just always been called 'Your Highness'. Oh! Warrior Sokka! Can you retrieve some more of those delicious nuts? We seem to be running short of food…"

"Sorry, Your Majesty, all the nuts have been scavenged," Sokka reported with a little bow, "there aren't any more to find!"

"Oh dear!" Kuei took this piece of news with a little shock, "what happened to them?"

"…you ate them," Sokka said irritably.

"Oh!" Kuei exclaimed in realisation, before giggling a little in embarrassment, "well…Bosco ate most of them."

While Bosco grunted with a worrying amount of hunger, Aang took several steps towards the Earth King in urgency. "I need to see Guru Pathik," he said, "have you seen him?"

"Oh yes, I saw him wandering that way, humming some kind of tune…it was very catchy, actually," Kuei pointed a thumb back behind himself into the darkened corridor behind him, "is anything the trouble?"

Aang took a disappointed breath, unable to look the deposed Earth King in the eye. "That's what I'd like to find out," he muttered, walking up the steps behind Kuei towards the entrance to the dark corridor. He paused to turn back towards the rest of the group, announcing "you all wait here, I won't be long."

"Wait a minute, you could barely walk ten minutes ago!" Toph argued, "there's no way you're going anywhere on your own!"

"It's alright, I'm fine. This is just something I need to do myself," Aang said to the assembly before turning once more towards the corridor.

"Aang!" Katara called, attracting Aang's attention, "…be careful."

Aang smiled back at her, and turned finally to enter the corridor. Katara couldn't help but feel the loneliness in the boy as he disappeared into the darkness of the temple. It reminded her of the quiet certainty when he said he was ready to meet someone in the Southern Air Temple. That felt years ago now, and so much had changed between all of them, and in Aang especially. That lonely sense of destiny was something he had kept with him all this time…but now it felt like there was little else. Momo crept to the edge of the corridor and purred mournfully. This was a place even he couldn't enter.

* * *

As Aang emerged from the corridor, he saw before himself a sight he hadn't yet allowed himself to see. It was a sanctuary for the nuns who lived in the temple a hundred years ago, but both the floor and the ceiling had disappeared, forming a pit inside which flowed a waterfall, a descending pillar through the rocks above. The elements seemed to have met at this place: air, water, earth…and fire. It was where the last few survivors undoubtedly met their end.

On the other side of the pillar of water sat the Guru, in closed-eyed contemplation. It wasn't quiet contemplation for the straightforward reason that the Guru was signing a tune. Aang sat cross-legged on the other side of the pillar, listening to the Guru's hum. Kuei was right. It was catchy.

"Guru Pathik?" Aang ventured, trying to prise a way into the Guru's concentration, "I have a probl-"

"Wait until the tune is finished," Guru demanded calmly before continuing his hum. And so Aang waited. He couldn't tell the passage of time, but he was used to these kinds of mental state tests by now, so it didn't actually seem that long. And dang was that tune catchy. He was almost sorry to hear it end, whereupon Pathik opened his eyes and queried, "now, what seems to be the trouble?"

"I don't even know where to begin," Aang declared, only to correct himself, "wait, yes I do, I left for Ba Sing Se before I was ready, and I paid the price for that…"

"No need to worry," the Guru interrupted, "you looked inside yourself and managed to unlock the chakras. The Avatar Spirit is powerful, I was able to feel it from here. An oddly uplifting sense of immense satisfaction, and a strange craving for moss. It was going to happen, and how you reached it was unimportant. The problem…as far as I can see…lies in what happened _afterward_."

"Azula…" Aang instinctively felt the scar on his back, "I almost died while in the Avatar State."

"You _did _die."

The words fell on Aang like a _dan_ of rocks. It was something he had felt at the time. He was cold and alone, and he felt like he was falling into an abyss. It felt like a second and eternity, all at once, like being engulfed in nothingness. And worst of all was the way he did die: he brought the Avatar Spirit down with him. But what was that he felt for a moment? That sense of disappearing, and yet being everything. That laughter…the kind, open laughter.

"But…Katara brought me back…" Aang asserted.

"It was fortunate she didn't hesitate a second longer. You were saved by her channelling of the spirit realm into your body. It was an act of healing that brought you back into the realm of the living," the Guru elaborated, "but there's only so much a healer can do without the one who is being healed. Physically you are fully recovered, but spiritually you stand at a precipice. The slightest shock may send you over. Your fate, and the fate of the Avatar Spirit itself, are now inextricably linked like never before."

"So if I die, that's it," Aang realised, letting the thought merge with the sound of the waterfall, "I don't know if I'm strong enough to keep the Avatar Spirit safe."

"You needn't worry about your own mental state. Your chakras are fully open. You have found the paths to channel your energies. But just as you have found the paths, and made your way to the higher states, the paths back into the world have been blocked. The only way to bypass them is to attempt the path you have not yet opened."

"Not yet opened?" Aang puzzled over the words, "what does that mean?"

"You have spent the last two seasons opening paths that never occurred to you before," the Guru explained, "only one remains unopened, and it is the most dangerous path of all."

"Last two seasons?" Aang looked down into the pit in concentration, "I've been awake after a hundred year sleep, trying to stop a war, trying to master the elements to face the Fire Lord. But now I can't bend anymore. I'd mastered air, water and earth, and all I had left to try was…"

Aang's gaze snapped to face the Guru's smiling face through the waterfall, who simply nodded slowly. If his death fell on him like a _dan_ of rocks, this felt like a mountain had fallen on him, and he said as much, "you gotta be kidding me."

"Your paths have been sealed by fire," the Guru explained, "learn the ways of fire, and you can break the seal."

And then his task was clear. His objective determined. The hazy fog that had descended on his mind since he fell in the pool had cleared. He now knew what to do. Aang stood up from his position and bowed to the Guru.

"Thank you for everything, Guru Pathik," Aang stated reverentially. The Guru merely smiled in return.

"I do not need your thanks, Avatar," the Guru said kindly, "I was always meant to do this. I do not need thanks for an act I was going to do anyway. I have taught you everything I can. It is up to you to fulfil your role as Avatar, and I can only warn you that it will not be easy. Indeed, it will be trying and painful. And the only comfort I can give is that it is something that must be done. There are no certainties in this world, Aang, but the certainties we forge. Nevertheless, the world turns, and it is up to every one of us to keep it turning. And I know you, of all people, are capable of it."

Aang paused in reflection at the words, and could feel no proper response than to turn and begin to leave, until a question emerged in his mind, leading him to face the Guru once again. He hesitated to mention, "you said you knew the Airbenders…back when…I just want to know…how they felt, in those last moments…"

The Guru himself looked down mournfully, eyes closed, seemingly understanding the faltering question Aang was posing, and answering as best he could, "we all do things we regret, wishing in hindsight for actions of one's own not taken, but if I can dare to speak for the Air Nomads…I believe Gyatso would've been proud of you."

They smiled weakly at each other, sharing a common bond with the old world that was long gone. Aang bowed in respect, and walked away from the Guru, who remained sitting, starting up his tune again. It echoed around the slick, moss covered walls of the last Air Temple sanctuary.

* * *

"I feel with my little feet something beginning with…B."

The group as assembled inside the hallway attempted to wrap their brains around Toph's riddle, killing time while Aang spoke to the Guru. Appa had closed the distance in curiosity and was peeking over the edge of the Temple in intense interest. Everyone else was in varying stages of seating, bored out of their skulls.

"Um…'building'? Is it 'building'?" Katara guessed.

"It can't be 'building'! It's too obvious!" Sokka protested, prodding the corner of a tile with a stick in impatience. He was starting to worry that they were taking too long. A fallen Earth Kingdom, helpless Avatar, and missing Kyoshi Warriors were not states of affairs that lent themselves to sitting around playing interesting variations of 'eye-spy'.

"How about 'basilisk'?" Kuei ventured, trying to be as helpful as he could be, which admittedly wasn't much. He'd taken to petting Bosco to pass the time.

"What's a basilisk?" Katara asked in all innocence. She wasn't impatient like Sokka, but still felt concerned about Aang, and this lent itself to a sense of distraction.

"You see that pillar in the centre, with the bas relief circling around the sides?" Kuei educated, "that's a basilisk. We had dozens of them back in the palace."

"Toph, do you even know what a basilisk is?" Sokka asked.

"Nope. They're all sticks of rock to me," Toph answered truthfully. Her sense of boredom wasn't as deeply founded as the others, since it wasn't so much the fate of the world that motivated her as an incessant need to just _do _something. She didn't like spending too much time in one place as a matter of course.

"Then it can't be that, can it?" Sokka, wishing to apply his mind to something, reluctantly joined in, "is it…bench?"

"Nope," Toph confirmed.

"…bed?" Sokka ventured further.

"How can it be 'bed'?" it was Katara's turn to question Sokka's logic.

"We've been using these hard, flat surfaces for sleeping on all fortnight," Sokka rubbed his back, "I just want to rest on something that doesn't try to malform my back all the damn time."

"So, you give up?" Toph smiled deviously.

"Yes, Toph, your deviously elusive riddle has confounded the finest mind in the room," Sokka drawled, "so what can you feel that begins with B?"

"Bugs," Toph confirmed, to everyone's mystification. Appa filled the confused silence with an almighty yawn.

"What bugs?" Sokka looked around the four corners of the room and couldn't see a thing, prompting Toph to leap down from the ledge she was occupying and jut out a leg in the direction of a loose pile of rubble that laid against one of the pillars. The rocks flew either side of the pillar, revealing a small colony of cockroaches that proceeded to flee for dear life, as Momo flew down to inspect the mighty, squirming haul that was before him, studying each bug with a connoisseur's eye. Sokka looked on in dulled irritation, saying "how were we supposed to know there were bugs under that rock?"

"The game's to find what I feel, not what you see," Toph crossed her arms triumphantly, and all but Kuei saw fit to glare at her.

"Fantastic, Toph," Sokka exclaimed, "absolutely fantastic. You've invented a game that _only you _can play."

"Hey, I don't see you coming up with ways to kill time," Toph's triumph turned back into bored poutiness.

"I don't believe that's needed any longer," Kuei spoke cautiously. While Toph was attracting glares, he himself was distracted by the sound of soft footsteps, as the barefooted, red-clad, brown-haired young boy emerged from the shadows of the corridor. As the others turned to Aang, both Katara and Sokka could see that he seemed absorbed in some kind of problem. Toph couldn't notice any difference, he was as level-breathed as he had been since he woke up.

"So, how did it go?" Katara asked Aang, who didn't seem prepared to look any of them in the eye, and stayed silent. He walked past Katara on the steps and slowed down when he reached Sokka.

"Sokka, do you have any matches for starting fires?" Aang asked. Sokka nodded and reached into his satchel to retrieve a long, thin stick of wood, covered with a paste of his father's invention. Aang took the match and continued walking, briefly leaning down to pick up a fallen leaf. He reached the edge of the Temple, where a little light crept in at the edges, and scraped the match against one of the pillars. He let the flame briefly scrape the surface of the leaf before handing the match back to Sokka, who extinguished it himself. They all followed him in some interest, but Aang didn't seem to pay attention to any of them, and continued walking outside, where the sky was lightening above him.

He took the leaf in both hands and breathed in, gently. Concentrating on the leaf in his mind's eye, he could feel the flame slowly reach the edges. He concentrated his breath and let it flow into his hands, extending himself beyond his fingers and into the leaf. After a wait of some time, which none of the others could tell, Aang concentrated more and more of himself into the leaf. The others kept their distance, unsure of what Aang was up to, and afraid of interrupting his concentration for whatever he was doing. Aang himself was unsure if he was capable of it, after so long of having not tried, but with his mind cleared he could see the flame, and the small flame inside himself.

With a suddenness that surprised everyone, the leaf was incinerated, and in between Aang's hands was a miniscule, struggling ball of fire. It took all of Aang's energies to maintain it, but it existed. He could bend after all. The others rushed forward when they saw the burst.

"Aang! You can bend!" Sokka yelled in excitement.

"You can bend fire…" Katara asserted ambivalently. She knew what fire meant for him. And for all of them. Aang opened his eyes to see the tiny flame before him, its reflection in his eyes, and its meaning in his heart. He crunched his hands together, snuffing out the fire in something that seemed like a statement, and turned towards the curious assemblage.

"We're heading west," Aang declared with complete finality, "to the other end of the Earth Kingdom."

"Definitely easier said than done, Aang," Sokka inquired, "but what exactly do you plan to do when we get there?"

Aang looked upon all six of them, humans and animals alike, and could tell they already knew what was going to happen. But they needed Aang to say it. No, they needed the Avatar to say it, "we're going to find a firebending teacher."

Appa looked on in confusion. He had seen the whole thing from start to finish from his viewpoint, floating just beneath the edge of the platform. A small red-clothed child that seemed to smell like Aang had walked up and made fire before his very eyes. He had seen a red-clothed child before. And he had definitely seen flames before. He could never forget the flames.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	4. Triumph Of The Will

Long Feng was not, by nature, a curious man, except when such curiosity was necessary for his own purposes. As such, the question of what the Fire Nation capital looked like had never occurred to him. Living in Ba Sing Se his whole life, his eyes had become accustomed to greens and pale browns. As a consequence he could never get used to how _red _everything was. There didn't seem to be any apparent physical reason why everything was so red, it just seemed like the Fire Nation had an obsessive affinity for redness. The Dai Li that made up the right half of Azula's flanking column stood out in their green uniforms. Long Feng wondered himself how much he stood out.

They had long disembarked the ship, and now seemed to have formed a procession, with Princess Azula at its head. Behind her were a line of Dai Li agents accompanied by a matching line of Fire Nation Royal Guard. She strode ahead as if she were a conqueror, and it occurred to Long Feng that she was fully capable of becoming a conqueror if she desired. After all, at least half of the long line of forces that stretched out behind her were loyal to her and only to her, and the other half may well have been persuaded in a crunch to back the sure bet. But one thing he couldn't help but notice was that, if she desired anything at all, it wasn't power. And why should she desire something she's already got in spades? Long Feng himself deeply respected power and its operation, the down-and-dirty execution of it, which was why he coveted it so much. What Long Feng sensed in Azula was power not as its execution, but as a state of being. She didn't seize power in Ba Sing Se, power simply happened to her. He had never sensed such iron-willed certainty in one so young…indeed, he'd never sensed it in anyone, and it was something he had no hope of mimicking.

But what he also noticed was that, if Azula didn't desire power, she also didn't seem to desire much of anything else. That was _deeply abnormal _for a member of the Fire Nation. Desire, passion, the lust for life and all its forms, those were the things that made Firebenders Firebenders, and yet Azula seemed to have excised herself of all of these. It was in complete contrast to her grim-faced brother, who walked beside Long Feng in the procession, holding in his hand a long staff that the Grand Secretary remembered belonged to the Avatar. Prince Zuko was constantly a volatile bundle of nerves, ready to explode at a moment's notice. Where Azula was almost impossible to analyse, Zuko was practically an open book, half-told as it was with the scar on his face. But any attempted analysis was constantly interrupted by the inane teenage twitterings Long Feng always overheard from the couple of Azula's colleagues behind her.

"Go on, Mai, he's right there in front of you," the pink-clad, wide-smiled gymnast whispered to her black-clad, monotone-faced dagger wielding companion.

"Shut up," Mai whispered back tersely, not letting her gaze wander a millimetre but still unable to keep a light blush from erupting on her pale face.

"You've been avoiding him all the way back home! I've noticed," Ty Lee urged, grinning profusely, "he hasn't even had the chance to meet you, yet! Aren't you curious about what he's been up to the last two and a half years?"

"Shut up," Mai whispered through gritted teeth.

"This might be your last chance! It's going to be busy, busy, busy from this point on," Ty Lee illustrated, "I know you want to talk to him. I can practically hear your beating heart from here."

"Shut up if you want to live," Mai uttered, revealing nothing except bright red cheeks. Ty Lee suppressed the urge to burst into huge fits of giggles and simply leant back into line, biting her lip in amusement. Zuko himself seemed completely oblivious to the commotion going on behind him. Long Feng, on the other hand, was trying hard to keep himself from burying the two with his bending. A nice thought, except he'd be stone dead before he so much as took a stance. He was always very conscious that his life was balancing on a knife edge.

The crowd around them had swelled to immense proportions, clamouring over each other to see. The guards were having trouble keeping control of their enthusiasm, as everyone could tell something was up. The Fire Lord's palace stood before them and they had continued walking, all the way up to the steps. More guards emerged to keep the crowd from spilling forward across the stairs, not a face amongst them that wasn't bright and smiling. This level of enthusiasm was unusual for Long Feng, even though he had heard stories that when the Fire Nation celebrated, they really loved to go the distance.

At the top of the stairs, at the very entrance to the palace, Azula halted and turned. Long Feng took this as the sign that she was ready to make her 'big speech', and turned to face the crowd. The rest of the procession did the same, and from the vantage point of the steps Long Feng was in a position to see a hefty amount of the city. The procession must have been pre-choreographed or something because one of the first things he noticed was that the Dai Li and the Royal Guard had paused at the bottom of the steps, had separated and were now facing each other, leaving a space in-between. He'd never seen anything like it in all his years conducting ceremonies for the Earth King. It was as if the people were one. They all died down as Azula prepared to address the crowd.

"Sons and daughters of Fire! Our struggle has been long and our sacrifices hard, but the hundred years of war between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom has ended! Their leaders have seen wisdom in the Fire Nation's cause, and we shall work together to rebuild our lands! All of you have made this day possible! We have demonstrated that our spirit is undefeatable and our will unconquerable, our people united as one to purify the world of its flaws! The Earth Kingdom's rulers, unable for so long to see above their own feet, have seen the brilliant light of our flame and stood amazed! Your labours and hardships have made the Fire Nation strong, and we have shown the heavens that our fires will never be doused! The peoples of Fire and Earth, united under the spirit of Agni, will bring forth a new age! No longer dominated by the filthy merchants, decrepit old monks, the fat, greedy and pompous, a new world order dawns! A world of purity and courage! We, the sons and daughters of Fire, have made this new order possible! The sons and daughters of Earth see the wisdom of our purity! Let our new, united order reign for ten thousand years! By Agni, we cry, let this be done!"

The crowd, to say the least, went wild. There were screams and tears and, in unison, and almost abruptly, they began to chant 'by Agni, let this be done'. Repeated over and over again. The five of them stood for some time on the steps, just raking it all in. Even Long Feng felt swayed by it, just because he could see the world Azula wanted to take apart was the world he had tried so ineffectually to secure. Azula was on a whole different level. Indeed, the chant had morphed while he was ruminating from 'by Agni, let this be done' to 'by Azula, let this be done'. The people chanting together, with such wild enthusiasm and blind passion, earnestly feeling the rightness of their nation and the spirit of their element, and Long Feng had to wonder: how did we last a hundred years against _this_?

Long Feng could feel Azula turning into the palace, and he dutifully followed in tow. Any thought of double-crossing was snuffed out the moment Azula opened her mouth.

* * *

Azula led only the four of them inside, Zuko noticed. He could barely fathom what Azula was up to, but it had something to do with the secrecy of their arrangement. The ink of the peace treaty wasn't even dry yet, and almost all of it was a complete lie. He didn't feel comfortable with the act of lying to his own people, or to much of anyone, feeling that honour demanded that one's intentions be out in the open for all to see. Deception was for cowards. And for Azula. Azula was justified in getting her own special category as far as deception went. She was many things, very few of them good, but she was sure as Agni no coward.

But beneath the entrance of the throne room of the Fire Lord, all such worries melted away. He gripped around the wooden staff that he had promised to deliver to his father six months before. This was the moment he had dreamt of for two and a half years, the moment when he would finally reclaim his honour. The moment when his father would be pleased with him, proud of him. He tried hard to keep a straight face, as the mere thought of it sent tears to his eyes. He saw the Royal Guards flanking the throne room, normally so stern but today smiling in genuine happiness, nodding respectfully at the Fire Lord's children.

And then the doors opened.

The room seemed even larger than before, having lost its familiarity, and at the end was the eternal flame of the Fire Lord's throne. Behind it stood the hidden figure of his father, his expression unknowable, but his presence filling him before he even set foot in the room. Zuko's heart beat at a frenetic pace, adrenaline rushing, and feeling like his blood vessels were on the verge of exploding, he tried hard to keep his composure and his right hand turned white squeezing Aang's staff.

He couldn't help but notice that Long Feng, standing beside him, was having much the same trouble. What the man had to be nervous about was a mystery to Zuko, but he seemed reluctant to step into the chamber after Azula. It was the vision of the Fire Lord that seemed to prompt this, and Zuko had forgotten how intimidating he was even to those who weren't his family members. Mai and Ty Lee both physically tensed, but Azula didn't seem nervous in the slightest. She just acted like Azula. That level of self-control irritated Zuko no end.

Azula walked forward, and prompted the rest to follow. She continued a fair distance towards the throne before kneeling before the Fire Lord. The others followed her cue in a delta. The doors closed behind them. To all intents and purposes they were trapped. Azula, slyly grinning, glanced at Long Feng, who was sweating profusely from both the feet and his terror, prompting him to cough and raise his head.

"Y…Your Most Excellent Highness…as Chief Representative of the Holder of the Mandate of the Earth, the Majestic and Undisputed Ruler of the Earth Kingdom, I present to you…" Long Feng bowed his head in terrified embarrassment, "the Holder of the Mandate of the Earth, the Majestic and Undisputed Ruler of the Earth Kingdom."

"I am honoured," Azula cued, looking the Fire Lord square in the eyes, "by the Mandate of the Earth, I put all the resources of the Earth Kingdom at your disposal, Fire Lord Ozai."

Zuko was more than a little startled by this declaration. Azula putting on the trappings of Earth Queen for their fathers' benefit? That was audacious even for Azula. Ozai, on the other hand, seemed eminently pleased by this turn of events, and registered as such by a short, guttural chuckle.

"You have done magnificently, my daughter," Ozai declared, "to have achieved in a day what our armies have failed to do for a hundred years, and all by yourself."

"I wasn't alone," Azula was quick to add, "without Zuko's help I would've been in serious trouble with the Avatar. Because of his brave actions, the Avatar will not be a problem for the foreseeable future. Brother, present the proof of our victory."

Zuko's hand trembled as he laid out the staff in front of himself, and breathed hard to keep his nerves. He spoke to his father for the first time in two and a half years only after making certain through calming his veins that he wouldn't stutter, "I present the Avatar's staff as a gift to you, Father."

"Zuko…" Ozai mentioning his name sent shudders up Zuko's spine, and he couldn't help but look up at that darkened face behind the flames, waiting in fear for what would happen next, "…my son."

To hear those two words from his father's lips was better than anything he could have dreamed of. He couldn't stop the tears running from his eyes now, though his gaze remained fixed on the Fire Lord, who rose from his throne to step forward.

"Suffering has taught you better than I could have ever imagined. You have learnt your respect, and abided by it even at the end of the world. I am proud to have you back, Prince Zuko," Ozai said in a warm, measured tone, and Zuko had to look down to hide his tears. He had it back. His honour and his country. He was so drunk on pride that Ozai's next angered, raging statement sent him reeling, "unlike that treacherous swine, Iroh! Where is he!?"

"I'm having him moved from the ship as we speak, in chains," Azula interrupted calmly, as Zuko's head snapped up, "he is to be incarcerated in the Royal Dungeons. His fate, my lord, is yours to decide at your pleasure."

"For my brother to side with the enemies of the Fire Nation," Ozai intoned threateningly, "he deserves nothing less than the most painful death imaginable."

"You can't do that!" Zuko cried out in horror. The silence that followed had physical weight, as everyone was unsure as to what to do next. Azula rolled her eyes at the obviousness of the response, and the only sound apart from the flames that flanked the Fire Lord was a small gulp from Long Feng's throat at the thought of unimaginably painful deaths.

"So soon returned from exile and yet still daring to question me?" Ozai threatened, "care to reconsider your rashness?"

Zuko looked down, staying silent. He had come too far to be renounced again so soon. But he couldn't condemn his uncle. The only thing he could do was stay silent. The others remained in a state of tension until the Fire Lord's flames flared in anger.

"You're dismissed from my presence! All of you!" Ozai flared. Without a word, Zuko stood up and turned towards the door, the others standing as well, but Azula stayed still to watch them leave. While Zuko's back was turned, the three others took cares to leave while facing forward, as was the custom. Long Feng wasn't sure if it really was the custom or not, but decided it was better to play safe, and was just glad he was getting out of the throne room.

The doors shut, leaving Azula alone in the room in front of Ozai. She turned and said in a cool voice, "father, we need to talk."

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	5. The Simple Plans

They still hadn't found a saddle for Appa. And that was the least to worry about.

"Okay, I think we got some semblance of a plan," Sokka made an arc across the map laid out over Appa's back, "we travel along the northern Earth Kingdom shore, bypassing Ba Sing Se and leaning close to areas we can be safe. If we're found, we can go inland into the mountains, or out into the open sea, where the Northern Water Tribe still holds out. We travel for about three days until we reach the north-east of the Earth Kingdom, where there are a number of Fire Nation colonies. We go there, look around for a few days until we find Jeong Jeong, then bring him back to the Northern Water Tribe where Aang can learn firebending in safety. As soon as that's done, Aang can go blow the Fire Nation up and everybody's happy! How does that sound?"

"Fine, except it's got more holes in it than Jongshi cheese," Toph complained, "exactly how are we supposed to find this Jeong Jeong? From what you say about him, he doesn't sound like a guy who wants to be found. He also sounds insane, but that might just be the way you're telling it."

"I'm sure Jeong Jeong will want to help Aang out," Katara added from her vantage point steering Appa through the clear blue skies. She had to pause every so often to pull her long hair off of her face. She…still wasn't entirely used to the abrupt change of hairstyle, but was too occupied with other things to really pay attention, "he's not going to have a problem with teaching Aang anymore, now he's learnt the other elements."

"We'll find him, we'll just have to be careful," Aang added, mulling over the map, "but it's going to be a long journey, and three days isn't a lot of time to make it in."

"We'll make it! We don't even need to land that often! I've got enough supplies stashed to last a week!" Sokka asserted, proud of his foresight.

"Oh yes, about that…" Kuei jumped in from the back, leading heads to turn towards Bosco busily using one of the supply bags as a muzzle. Appa's back briefly shuddered as the bear sneezed the bag off, leading Momo to hurriedly search the bag for scraps of remains, whining when the search comes up with nothing but crumbs. Sokka glared at the bears' destruction of his handiwork.

"We _can _just restock at a village, you know," Katara chimed in with a suggestion, turning back to the group and once again pulling her flying hair back with her fingers, "there are fishing villages up and down this coast-line."

"Are you kidding!?" Sokka panicked, "we're not safe anywhere anymore! The slightest whiff of this bison and the entire Fire Nation will be on our backs!"

"Just because Azula controls Ba Sing Se, doesn't mean she controls everyone in the Earth Kingdom," Aang reasoned.

"Exactly!" Katara claimed, "I think we can trust Earth Kingdom villagers not to turn us in."

* * *

A small crowd gathered as soon as Appa set down. The villagers of the mountainous rice-paddy-region settlement looked suitably awed.

"Look! It's the Avatar's bison!" a younger, bearded villager pointed and exclaimed, while the group descended onto the ground.

"See?" Katara pointed out, "they're welcoming us with open arms!"

"Get 'im!" an older villager raised his pitchfork and charged.

"I saw 'im first!" a young woman pushed the man aside and raised a club at the onlookers, prompting a flurry of mad scuffles as the villagers climbed on top of each other to get at the Avatar.

The Avatar's group panicked somewhat in their attempt to get back on Appa, but Kuei, in an uncharacteristic show of bravery, stepped in front of the villagers and hailed "wait! I come with important news! You have all been tricked! The Fire Nation has overthrown the Earth Kingdom from the inside and is plotting to take over your villages! Heed my words, brave villagers, because I am your king! I was rescued by the brave Avatar during the takeover! I hope you can look into your hearts and know that I am telling the truth!"

The villagers had all stopped to hear the man speak, and wasn't entirely sure how to respond. The old man who led them, however, managed to speak for all of them when he said "what kind of gullible idiots does he think we are?"

The villagers charged once again, and Kuei screamed in panic. Toph, thinking quick, dropped down from Appa to force the ground beneath Kuei to burst, sending him reeling backwards onto Appa's back. The villagers were throwing whatever projectile they could get their hands on to keep Appa from lifting, but Toph eventually got back on before the crowd reached them. It was in this sorry state of affairs that they made their escape.

* * *

"That went well…" Sokka remarked sarcastically, holding Appa's reins.

"It…might not be the same for _every _village…" Katara attempted to defend herself. Amongst the items thrown at them were a series of scrolls that someone was obviously holding and hoping to turn into rudimentary missiles. These were providing some surprisingly good reading material.

"'By Order of the Earth King, all hostilities against the Fire Nation are to cease immediately. Soldiers are to return to barracks for further orders, and all blockades and embargoes against the Fire Nation are to be lifted with immediate effect. Forces in northern territories are ordered to remain on watch for hostile renegade Water Tribe forces. The Earth Kingdom is in a state of hostilities with the Water Tribe, for their role in attempting to undermine the Kingdom by continuing the war'," Kuei read from the scroll nearest to him, "I never ordered that!"

"'Declaration of Peace, from this day onward'," Katara read aloud, "'the peoples of the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation agree to settle their differences and work together to rebuild our shattered countries. All Prisoners of War shall be freed and allowed to be returned to their homes. Fire Nation advisors will assist in the reconstruction of Earth Kingdom towns, and Earth Kingdom merchants are encouraged to re-establish trade links with Fire Nation territories. The war is over. Let us rejoice'. Now see, there have to be loads of people who can't swallow _that_."

"There's one here about us…" Aang found a scroll, "'By Order of the Earth King, the Avatar is to be arrested for crimes against the Earth Kingdom, including treason, sabotage, sedition, kidnapping and attempting to undermine the new peace between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. He has a number of accomplices, including two members of the hostile Water Tribe and a charlatan who claims to be the Earth King. They have taken the 12-year-old daughter of Earth Kingdom noble Lao Bei Fong hostage, and ride on a flying bison…illustration affixed'."

"Oh good, they don't mention Bosco…" Kuei commented, looking over Aang's shoulder, "this is interesting…it says 'last seen being assisted by renegades to escape from Ba Sing Se, severely injured by a direct lightning strike'. To think that no one has seen you in all this time…"

"The ungrateful jerks!" Sokka gesticulated at thin air, "to think of all we've done for them! 'Thanks so much for saving the world! Here's a _knife in the back_. I'm sure you'll love it'."

"I'm surprised you thought any different," Toph seemed to be the only one who relished their new 'outlaw' status, "oh, wait a minute, I'm not supposed to have an opinion, I'm just the 'hostage'."

"I just can't believe they'd be so ready to accept a deal with the Fire Nation…" Katara stared at her scroll in disbelief.

"There's been war for a hundred years," said Aang, in a tone that led everyone else to turn and take notice. He seemed peculiarly focused on his words, "when you've had no peace since before you were born, you'll wish for whatever peace you can get, no matter how much it costs you. These are people just trying to lead normal lives. Toph's right. We shouldn't have expected anything different. I mean, when you think about it, maybe it's better this way? If there's no war, then less people die. We have a job to do ourselves, but we've no right to make other people fight our battles. Only innocents suffer from that. So…it's down to us. And that's how it should be."

Aang was looking down when he said this, so he didn't notice the gaping jaws from everyone present. The profound shock of how out of character Aang's comment was led a silence to permeate Appa's back for some moments. After a while, Aang finally noticed that everyone was looking at him. He looked up in all innocence and asked "what?"

* * *

Azula left the Fire Lord's throne room less than satisfied. Her father was as still as unduly stubborn as always. She had definite designs for Zuko, and executing his pathetic excuse for an uncle was going to upset more than a couple, no matter how gratifying his untimely demise would be. It was too soon, and she needed time to mould him into something she wanted. Defiance was something she'd have to expunge from him before anything else could happen. It was when evaluating all these factors that an idea sprung to mind. She didn't have much time to execute it, but she didn't need much time.

She sought out Mai and Ty Lee in the vaulted hallways of the Fire Lord's palace, and found they hadn't wandered far. Mai was curled up in a small alcove opening up into the palace grounds, writing into a small notebook, probably about the eternal beauty and embrace of the night or some-such nonsense. Ty Lee had propped herself up against a pillar the made up one end of the alcove, staring into space as usual and assuming Mai was far more interested in her imaginings than was remotely the case.

"I just can't help but think about him, those sea-blue eyes, those rippling, chocolate-coloured muscles, that thick, caveman skull of his…" Ty Lee squealed in excitement, "he's just so _delicious_! I'm always imagining him sweeping down and carrying me off in his arms…"

"Why would a Water Tribe warrior we've been trying to kill for the last 3 months want to go out with you?" Mai asked without turning her head away from her notebook.

"If your Zuzu can come over to our side, then love knows no boundaries!" Ty Lee spread her arms out to accentuate the point, leading to a contemplative silence from Mai.

"Your mind is a scary and bizarre place, Ty Lee," Mai said in as neutral a tone as possible, still scribbling in her notebook.

It was very entertaining to watch, but Azula had more pressing concerns, and Ty Lee snapped to something like attention when she approached. "Where's Zuko?" asked Azula.

"He's gone to his old room," Mai pointed a stick of charcoal in the room's direction, "he hasn't come out all day."

"Mai!" Ty Lee slapped Mai's shoulder, leading to an irritated glare in return, "you said you weren't stalking him!"

"Will you grow up?" Mai shot at Ty Lee before facing Azula, "you want to speak to him?"

"No," Azula looked in Zuko's direction, cogs almost visibly turning in her mind, and cast her two companions a devious grin, "I've just got a special treat in mind for him."

* * *

After a while, the incident with Aang had been forgotten and the group continued to fly Appa for a considerable distance. Considering the mood on Appa's back, the rapidly diminishing supplies and the sheer weight of the load Appa had to carry they managed a surprising number of _li _in a short space of time. But as the sun began to descend from its noon-time height they couldn't help but notice that Appa was starting to descend with it.

"Appa's getting tired," Toph noticed, lazing on the back of Appa's neck, "his breathing's getting pretty laboured."

"I thought you needed to be on ground level to tell those kinds of things?" Sokka considered.

"When you're on something's bare back for hours on end, you establish a kind of rapport," Toph glibbed.

"That's weird, though," Katara piped up, "Appa's never gotten tired this quickly before."

"It's the number of people we have!" Sokka gestured, "Appa wasn't built for seven!"

"Well, to be fair, I don't think the winged lemur strictly counts as 'weight'," Kuei attempted yet another effort at providing some kind of use on this trip.

"Don't worry!" Aang piped up, "there's something I taught Appa when I was little. Sometimes we'd go out really far over the ocean and he'd get tired before we got back to shore. It's kind of like a deal we made. 'Just a little further and you'll get a nice, big treat'. I think the situation we're in justifies it."

The rest of the group looked at each other and communicated through shared glances…or in Toph's case, shared breathing. Aang's connection to his animal friends + old childhood reminisces good. Katara decided as such with a stifled giggle, saying "knock 'im dead! …not…literally."

Aang smiled that sweet smile of his and clambered over onto Appa's head, taking the reins in both hands. He made a light slap with the reins and demanded into the wind "Appa? _Strawberry curry!_"

Appa didn't even respond. If anything he seemed to sag further.

"Hm," Aang looked Appa over calmly, while Momo flew over Appas face and waved a hand over its eyes, "that's never happened before."

"Let's…set up camp around here," Sokka leaned forward to take the reins, "it's pretty well-forested, and we've made some good distance. It'll give us time to figure out what to do next."

Aang assented as much, and wandered back towards the rest of the group to sit, cross-legged, as Appa descended. Katara noticed the brief glimmer of something before it disappeared, and it made her a little fearful for the boy that he didn't feel more let-down that his trick hadn't worked. She had gradually nursed him back to health over the last two weeks carefully and painstakingly, and hadn't yet felt herself satisfied that he had fully recovered. It stemmed from that one moment when she held the burnt boy in her arms back at the Old City. She felt anger, grief, and sorrow all at once, and reached out to Aang with all she had.

But she couldn't feel his heartbeat.

Appa descended into a wooded area of the North-Eastern Earth Kingdom, and the first leg of their journey came to an ignominious end.

* * *

When the campfire was lit, and they were all sufficiently filled with lunch, they all agreed to split up to find supplies for the second leg of their journey. Or rather, they all agreed that Aang would go find supplies while the rest of them met up for a secret council on the other side of the clearing. Bosco made quick work of the fruits hanging off of the trees, much to Momo's chagrin. The rest were engaged in some fairly animated conversation.

"I don't care what he sounds like!" Sokka argued, "he might be an imposter, he might be a possessed puppet, he might be a zombie, but in any case _that is not Aang_."

"Calm down, Sokka," Katara soothed, "maybe it's just what he's gone through. Losing his bending, his appearance changing...he just needs time to deal with things."

"But that's just _it_, he's _not _trying to deal with things!" Sokka blew up, "it's like he's already dealt with _everything there ever was_! It's creepy! He's meant to be this crazy, positive, cocky, go-getting twelve-year-old-kid and instead we get a pint-size miniature sage giving worldly advice!"

"Well, maybe that's a good thing?" Toph supposed, "I mean, his problem always was that he didn't take things seriously enough."

"But it's not just that," Katara theorised, "he's the Avatar. And yes, the Avatar's supposed to be wise and powerful and all that, but he's got to be something else as well."

"Like what?" Toph wondered.

Katara looked back in the direction Aang went, "…human."

Sokka looked on Katara with a cocked eyebrow, before turning towards Kuei and asking "so, Your Majesty, what do you think?"

"I don't know! I never met the kid!" Kuei panicked, his own uselessness being revealed for all to see. And Sokka could tell.

"I think we need to discuss what to do about you two," Sokka looked Kuei in the eye, "with…all due respect, Your Highness."

"I think this is something to talk with Aang about," Katara concluded.

"But, weren't we meant to be collecting supplies?" Toph intruded.

On that thought, they were promptly interrupted by a high-pitched screeching sound involving Momo sitting on a branch defending an armful of fruit against Bosco's advances as he attempted to reach the winged lemur up the tree. The rest of the group found themselves somewhat impressed. Sokka commented "you know, that little furball can be damn useful at times."

But then something distinctly odd happened. Bosco stopped grabbing for Momo's branch and leaned aside, sniffing the air. This behaviour puzzled the lot of them for some time before the bear abruptly dropped to the ground and ran away from the direction of the clearing as fast as it could.

"Bosco! Come back!" the Earth King cried. Kuei was heartbroken, and unthinkingly ran in Bosco's direction, much to the irritation of everyone else who quite frankly were glad the thing was leaving. Then Toph abruptly sensed why the bear was so determined to get away.

"Wait! Don't go that way!" Toph's warning came too late, and a giant wall of dirt rose across the Earth King's path. Toph instinctively spun around to blow a hole in the rapidly spreading wall for them to escape through. Realising Toph's plan, Katara and Sokka immediately made for the path Toph was forming through the trees. But before they could bolt, Sokka looked back to see Kuei attempt the climb the wall in the opposite direction.

"I won't leave without him!" came the Earth King's deluded reply, to which Sokka instinctively thumped his forehead in annoyance. He had to rush back, and Toph attempted to keep their unseen attackers at bay, as the wall slowly closed inwards. The longer they waited, the more dangerous it got, since less wall meant less effort to tighten the noose around them. To help in things, Katara drew a slither of water out of her flask and slashed it through the trees around them, causing several to topple over. Momo found it necessary to flee from one tree to another. The cleared view revealed the top of the bended wall, and the small flotilla of Earth Kingdom soldiers leaping over it to deal with the threat inside. They had next to no time and Sokka was still trying to claw the Earth King from the opposite wall.

"Forget the bear! For crying out loud!" Sokka shrieked at Kuei, who clawed a few precious moments more before pausing and reflecting. Looking around, teary-eyed, he finally decided to run, with Sokka bringing up the rear. Momo, from his vantage point atop the tree tops, was screeching and throwing various pieces of fruit at people unseen below, until he was abruptly silenced by a long, swirling rope, with a small piece of rock tied to the end providing it with motion, twirling around Momo and trapping him, dragging him down into the trees. From trees left and right of Sokka, there snaked long lengths of rope, with Sokka having to think fast to slice with his boomerang before they could reach them both. One snaked out to catch Kuei in the legs, leading him to topple over. Sokka leant down to slice it only his upswing to be caught by a section of rope, leaving him defenceless.

"Sokka!" Katara cried out, distracting herself a split second longer than it was safe to, and leading to her arms being bound by snaking rope, one by one. Toph held out the longest by being able to bend the small rocks at the end of the rope, but with the other three down it was only a matter of time before she was overpowered and flattened out against the ground, unable to move with four lengths of rope stretching her out. They all looked up to see the men that had captured them, professional soldiers all. The company Major approached the captured group, arms crossed behind his back and stone-faced after long years in the war.

"You should really try to find a less conspicuous form of transportation," the Major drawled, revealing from behind his back the illustration of Appa affixed to the Avatar's wanted poster. The prisoners were properly secured and taken away from the newly-formed walled enclosure.

* * *

"Hey guys! Look what I found," Aang said as he neared the clearing, "Bin-jun fruit! Feed Bosco one of these things and he'll be full for hours…"

Aang paused when he saw the deserted clearing. Long slithers of rock were concentrated on the spot where Appa had set down, and lengthy tracks led out of the clearing and towards north-east. Aang could immediately tell what happened, and dropped his fruit to quickly follow the tracks. He paused at the edge of the clearing to see the distance of the track before him. The clearing was atop a hill, and from there he could see a long, snaking trail stretching for several _li_. It was going to take a while, but he hadn't a moment to lose.

Aang's thoughts were cool, methodical and logical. He never stopped to wonder why he wasn't more upset.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	6. Moha

Zuko splashed his face with water from the bowl, and looked himself in the mirror. He still hadn't given himself a top-knot, and didn't feel any urge to don official Fire Royalty regalia. Instead, the only thing he could concentrate on was his scar. Despite his father welcoming him home, it hadn't disappeared, and still marked him out as one cursed. Of course, he never thought it would, but he still imagined that it wouldn't haunt him anymore. Now it haunted him more than ever, the idea that this scar really was eternal sinking in for the first time in two and a half years. Things hadn't returned to normal. He was an idiot to think they would. And now his uncle was close to execution and he was being called on to support it. It was intolerable.

He touched the scar with two of his fingers. There was one moment it could have disappeared…just one moment…a moment with a blue-eyed girl that he replayed in his mind over and over…a moment he knew would never come again and now was desperately wishing it would…

A knock on the door interrupted his bout of self-loathing, and he hurriedly wiped off the water from his face and donned a functional undershirt from the back of a chair nearby. Someone had obviously prepared the room for his arrival, but with much of his personal possessions sunk at the bottom of a harbour and travelling for months with nothing but his broad-swords and the clothes on his back, the decorations were still extremely Spartan compared to the rest of the palace. A comfy bed, a wash-basin, his broad-swords lying against a wall, and lots of empty space. It seemed like a metaphor of his entire situation.

"Come in," he called to the person at the door, who revealed herself upon opening to be Ty Lee, smiling apologetically and waving a short wave. Zuko hadn't the patience for such interruptions, "what do you want?"

"Just…thought you'd like some company!" Ty Lee shrugged, walking in and making herself welcome, "I mean, no one likes having a big, old, drafty room all to themselves."

"I like having a big, old, drafty room all to myself," Zuko answered mono-syllabically, sitting himself down on his chair and facing away from Ty Lee. He didn't respond to Ty Lee's inane giggles.

"I can tell why she has a crush on you," Ty Lee sat on the edge of Zuko's bed.

"You mean Mai?" Zuko didn't look around, but could feel the force of Ty Lee's gasp of surprise.

"How did you know!?" Ty Lee expressed.

"You've already told me a thousand times even before I left," Zuko explained, "so are you here to get us both into some kind of embarrassing situation where we have no choice but to embrace each other and skip merrily into the sunset?"

"No!" Ty Lee prevaricated, "…not…really…what's wrong with just wanting to talk to someone?"

"Azula sent you, didn't she?" Zuko stared at the wall.

"Of course she didn't!" Ty Lee leant forward in asserting this.

"Yes she did," Zuko leant back in his chair, "she thought I wouldn't be able to trust her, so she sent someone she knew I could trust simply because this someone's so fuzzy-brained she'd guessed I'd never believe this someone was telling lies."

Ty Lee, feeling a little hurt, crawled up her legs onto the bed and hugged her knees, staring at the door, her voice reduced to a whisper "everyone's so suspicious these days."

"I've started to be a little more discerning in what I choose to believe," Zuko said, unrepentant.

"Not just you, everyone," Ty Lee piped up, "there're people muttering, people plotting, people being all ugly inside…"

"Azula talked about this kind of thing before, and I didn't trust her then," Zuko looked down.

"Well, this one's actually pretty specific," Ty Lee said with something approximating a level head, "a plot to sneak into the Fire Lord's sleeping chamber at midnight and stab him in his sleep with a poisoned dagger."

Zuko, hearing this strangely accurate assassination plot, turned to Ty Lee for the first time, "how did you find out about this?"

Ty Lee, a little distracted by the door, looked back at Zuko and recounted, "I was practising hanging from the ceiling and overheard a couple of bureaucrats talking about it. Said they were unhappy with the new Peace Treaty or something like that."

"Why didn't you mention this sooner!?" Zuko demanded.

"It's such a downer, I wanted to talk about something happy first!" Ty Lee kicked her legs out and stared ahead before turning back at Zuko, "but, you know, if you catch the plotters when they spring their trap, I bet your father's going to be really happy with you."

Zuko stared into space at this, a million things entering his head at once. Ty Lee seemed convincing enough, and it'd be the kind of thing she'd want to cover in fur before sending to someone she trusted. But the thought of pleasing his father, especially after his acrimonious reunion, it seemed worth the risk.

"That's what you want…" Ty Lee grasped, "isn't it?"

* * *

It was near sunset when the prisoners arrived at the Earth Kingdom base, close to the ocean. With the length of days in summer, this meant they'd been travelling for some time. It was somewhat makeshift, with square, hollowed out pieces of rock forming the base, surrounded by a rudimentary wall. Sokka, Katara and Kuei were led by stretches of rope, while Toph was shackled onto a flat piece of metal, her limbs stretched in all directions to prevent her making any bending moves, and laid onto the back of a cart, pulled by an ostrich-horse.

"Isn't this a little excessive?" Toph had commented before.

"Yes, for anyone else but _you_," the Major had responded.

Momo was carried in a small sack, while behind them all was dragged Appa, shackled to the ground by a flotilla of soldiers and secured by the thickest rope they could find, on a float pulled by four ostrich-horses. The arrangements were so substantial that the rest of the company had to proceed on foot. Major Gin Hong took up a stance before the wall and sent it into the ground with a kick-up of dust, leading the column into the base.

A rudimentary prison was hastily constructed for Appa, essentially a hollow stone block with a small door for feeding and other needs. It served the purpose, and allowed the other prisoners to be brought before a smaller building than the other barracks, overlooking a cliff with a good view of the ocean surrounding it. Gin Hong lined up the prisoners outside the building and prepared them for what was coming next.

"You will show respect for General who," Gin Hong announced.

Sokka twisted his eyebrows in confusion, "General who?"

"General who," Gin Hong repeated.

"…what, are we supposed to guess or something?" Sokka asked. Leading to a long stare-down by the Major.

"You think you're a real good comedian, don't you, kid?" the Major brushed aside the curtain that overlaid the entrance to the hut and motioned the other soldiers to bring the prisoners inside. Toph's metal plate was brought in by two soldiers side-to-side, while the others were harshly dragged into the hut.

Light poured in through slits in the wall of the hut, and it was rather spacious, with a large desk occupying the far end of the sand-floored building. Behind the desk sat an elderly, distant-looking figure, in the regalia of a general of the Earth Kingdom Military, looking up from the reports on his desk. It was at this point that everything finally clicked in Sokka's mind.

"Oooooooooh! His name is General _Hu_!" Sokka exclaimed as if he realised the punchline to an excruciatingly funny joke, "ohoh! Okay! I get it! Man, that's a classic. Hoo boy…ow!"

The Major clunked Sokka in the head and addressed the General, "these are the Avatar's companions. You wanted to bring them in for questioning, sir?"

"Indeed I did. Excellent work, Major Gin Hong," the General laid back in his chair and relaxed, "the Fire Nation's finest couldn't capture them in six months, and we managed it in only two weeks. Just goes to show. No wonder the Fire Nation made peace."

"Sir, the Fire Nation has secretly overthrown the Earth Kingdom! The Dai Li have overthrown the King and pledged themselves to Fire Princess Azula! That's why they've made an alliance…ow!" Sokka blurted out before being clonked in the head by Gin Hong again.

"The Earth Kingdom's been overthrown, has it?" the General stroked his beard in fascination, "now, see, there's a gentleman here that disagrees with this marvellous story you're weaving."

When the prisoners collectively wondered what the General was talking about, out of the corner of their eyes there stepped out a figure dressed in dark green, face hidden by his coned hat. They hadn't even noticed he was in the room, and his voice sounded like nails scraping against a blackboard, "it's a fascinating fairy-tale. Never heard anything quite like it, sir."

"Now, see, what this gentleman tells me is that the Avatar went and invaded the Earth King's palace and briefly installed an impostor on the throne, with the intention of sending our forces on a fool's errand into the Fire Nation to get comprehensively slaughtered," the General leaned forward to stare down the gang with a resigned grin, "the number of eye-witnesses to this is surprisingly large. Now, who do you suppose we trust, a member of the Earth King's personal guard, or a bunch of malcontents who have left a trail of destruction wherever they landed?"

"How about the word of the Earth King himself?" Sokka suggested, steeling himself for the clonk on the head that the Major inevitably dispensed. Kuei was still sniffling from the loss of Bosco and didn't seem especially in the frame of mind to act kingly.

"Ah yes…the impostor," the General stared down the sniffling wreck, "has quite a resemblance, doesn't he?"

"It's uncanny, sir," the Dai Li agent intoned.

"But then it's the kind of ruse I've been starting to expect from a member of the Water Tribe," General Hu commented.

"Oh come on! You don't seriously buy that alliance with the Fire Nation, do you? And, please don't hit me…" Sokka got out before being interrupted with another clonk on the head, "…fine."

"I've been fighting the Fire Nation longer than you've been alive, sonny," the General stood up from his table and wandered, hands crossed behind his back, towards the window overlooking the sea, "I know more than most people the costs of war. And I know that without this Peace Treaty the men under my command may still be dropping like flies. And similarly without this Peace Treaty I wouldn't have had the extra resources to secure this flank and find out all _kinds _of things the Water Tribe's been up to. Like mining the entrance to Ba Sing Se, for example."

"That's my dad!" Sokka blurted out unthinkingly, regretting it the moment General Hu turned to give Sokka The Eye.

"So he shows his allegiance at last," the General returned to his desk, "as of now, I have ships and troops the length and breadth of this coastline turning their attention north. I really don't have the time to play babysitter to a bunch of juvenile delinquents. Though I'm sure your family will be glad to see you rescued, Toph Bei Fong…"

"Say that name one more time and I'll cram it back down your throat," Toph threatened. The Major didn't dare _attempt _to clonk her on the head.

"Minjiang Syndrome, sir?" the Dai Li agent suggested.

"Must be," the General concurred, "we'll deal with that situation when we come to it, but we've accounted for all of you except one. I'm short of time and I'm only asking this once…_where is the Avatar_!?"

The gang collectively panicked inside, unsure how to respond. They could say they were decoys, or they could say that they were searching for him as well, they could say they had no idea what the General was talking about, but nothing especially convincing. They had only a bare few seconds to wrack their brains and come up with a plausible reason why General Hu couldn't just search the nearby forest.

"He's dead," Katara spoke up, looking up determinedly. The rest stayed silent in shock, "he died in the Old City beneath Ba Sing Se."

The General took a moment to digest this piece of information, as even he couldn't entirely accept the death of the Avatar, "now see, I find that a little hard to believe, simply because if the Avatar died, I'm sure you'd be in a sufficiently dour and depressed mood that your jester here wouldn't be making fun of my name."

"Uh…raising low spirits?" Sokka did his best to keep up the play-acting.

"He suffered a direct lightning strike from Fire Princess Azula," Katara drained her voice of emotion, no matter how hard it was, "he was killed instantly. Your Dai Li agent should know. He was probably there to see it."

The silence from the Dai Li agent confirmed Katara's suspicions, and simultaneously raised the General's, until he finally spoke up, "reports from the incident indicated that he was seriously injured, and that was the last anyone saw of him. It is highly possible that she is telling the truth."

The General closed his eyes and breathed in sharply, considering matters before opening his eyes again, "whatever the case, you are to remain here until we can transport you to Ba Sing Se in the morning. I'm too busy with other matters to worry about a quartet of petulant trouble-makers. Major, take them to the stockade, and secure them _tightly_."

"Yes, sir," the Major confirmed, indicating to the other soldiers to shuffle the prisoners away. The General had already lost interest even before they'd left the tent, consumed in his reports. Once they left, the Dai Li spoke to the General in hushed tones.

"We will need to get this information to the Earth King right away," the Dai Li agent urged.

"Mm?" General Hu muttered distractedly.

"That the Avatar is dead," the Dai Li agent inferred.

"Mm," the General assented, continuing to look down at the pieces of paper on his desk and mourning, in his own way, the death of the divine medium who had brought peace to the world.

The sun set over the horizon, and the day was over.

* * *

The Dragon of the West, heir to the throne of the Fire Lord, the great General Iroh, was wondering exactly how to get a decent meal in this damned dungeon. He'd tasted better gruel in the bottom of boots. And these were the _Royal _Dungeons. He shuddered to think of what regular dungeon food was like. It was better when he was in command, he reminisced. Whenever they captured prisoners of war, he always made sure they had a decent meal and a hot drink to smooth their defeat over. It was a line of thinking he brought to his retired life. Even if scary men came to burn your house down, a hot cup of tea made everything better. Logistics was always the key to victory. And Lu Ten was an excellent cook.

Lu Ten. To think that it was his son's death that set him on this path. The path that led right here, to this dark, dreary, damp-ridden, rat-infested hole with nothing to look forward to except death. It was not the way he expected to die, but he was always very conscious that he was going to die someday. Preferably in a big, comfy bed surrounded by fat, happy grandchildren. That dream died, so he'd settled for a big, comfy bed surrounded by fat, happy surrogate grandchildren. That dream died as well, and the ironic thing was that they both died in the same place. He had two battles of Ba Sing Se to his name now, and he had been defeated in both. But more painfully, they had claimed both of his sons.

His ruminations were interrupted by a strange clink in the back of his cell. Iroh himself was unshackled, having no need for them with nowhere to go, so he approached the back with some curiosity. A brief scrabble around the edges of the metal wall revealed that a plate was loose. Now, that it had clinked by itself meant either that someone was helping him or it was some kind of elaborate trap. Iroh had lost all hope in his one potential ally, so the latter was infinitely more likely than the former.

Iroh shrugged. You only live once, he supposed, and even if it was a trap there was still a decent chance to claim some decent food out of the jaunt. He pulled aside the plate to sneak out the back of the cell.

* * *

It was dark by the time Aang found the Earth Kingdom base at the end of the track. It was sparsely lit with very few torches, presumably to make it more difficult to spot, but its sheer size made it impossible not to notice. Aang overlooked the base from a cliff that bordered the area in which the base was built, overlooking the northern sea. From here he could see most of the buildings, and a few sentry guards along the corners. He could tell the sentries' restlessness even from there, since the war was supposed to be over and they had families to return to. That would make sneaking in easier, but he wouldn't last very long without bending if he didn't know where to go.

Fortunately, he had something of an advantage. Kneeling down behind a bush facing the base, he took his bison whistle out of his pocket, took a deep breath, and blew as hard as he could. From a large building in the near corner of the base a mighty grunt shook the earth and dust was noticeably kicked up. He knew where to go, but then a rather more practical problem presented itself: exactly how was he supposed to scale a thirty foot high wall? Only a week ago he would've barely noticed the thing, but now he had a serious problem. He…wasn't used to only being able to use his muscles. Even walking this distance had him almost beat. He didn't have rope, didn't have anything that could attach to walls, and if he was discovered he certainly couldn't defend himself.

Then Aang looked down at himself. He was clothed in loose, fairly ragged red clothing, his hair covered his arrow, and to anyone who saw him he was essentially no more than a small boy. So if anyone discovered him, there was nothing that could tell anyone he was the Avatar. With that fact in place, he could do what Sokka tended to do…on his good days. Work around the problem. He noticed the sentries stationed below the wall and formulated a plan.

* * *

Sentry duty was one of those things that you knew needed to be done, but always supposed it would be done by someone other than you. That was the point of view of Private Seung, but he was smart enough to keep his views to himself. It was just the position he was in, an unusual one considering his training. With no prospect of enemies approaching from _land_, some bright spark in the higher-ups had decided it was a good idea to station a couple of guys out front to let supplies in as quickly as possible. So, in the unlikely event that enemies _did _approach from land, he would undoubtedly be one of the first to die. This analysis left him edgy for all of the four hours he was on shift for, and led to a panicked squeal when he saw something _red _move in the bushes.

Fortunately, professionalism soon took over and he roused his colleague from his distinctly un-soldierly slumber, "Deng! Private Deng! Wake up, we got movement!"

"Muuumuuhhhmm?" Deng mumbled, getting his eyes to slowly pry themselves open. In this profession, no matter how comfortably you were used to sleeping, one soon became accustomed to sleeping standing up, and it was in such a position that Deng sprang from half-asleep incoherence into adrenaline-fuelled terror as soon as he saw the flash of red, "I knew we couldn't trust 'em! I knew it!"

"Calm down, Deng, it might just be an envoy or something," Seung attempted to peer into the black of the night and called further, "who goes there!?"

The flash of red gradually took shape, and it wasn't a very big shape, consisting of a short, red torso, puffed shorts and gangly limbs, along with unusually short brown hair. Deng became unusually jumpy, spouting off "it's a spy, Seung! I know it's a spy!"

"Relax, Deng, it's just a kid," Seung lowered his pike and leaned down, putting his hands on his knees, "what's the trouble, young man?"

"Sorry to bother you…sir…" the child spoke as hesitantly as he dared, "it's just…I don't know where my mama and papa are. They were Fire Nation soldiers…y'see…I was kinda the squad mascot…heh…an' they were pulling out of this place an'…things got confused an'…I…kinda lost 'em…"

"You hear that? Fire Nation soldiers bringing their _children _with them! It's too suspicious!" Deng burst out in panic.

"C'mon, Deng, don'tcha remember 'lil Shingxi? It's not that weird," Seung lectured his colleague, turning back to the child, "you poor thing. Don't worry, you can rest here tonight. We'll see what we can do in the morning, 'kay?"

The child smiled a sweet, uncertain smile and wandered forward to take Seung's outstretched hand, "thanks, mister."

Seung bended a section of the wall open and walked through it, briefly turning his attention to Deng who was still pointing his pike forward and eyeing the child suspiciously. Seung said "Deng, keep guard."

"Oh sure! Leave only one guard on duty while they make their surprise attack! That's their plan all along! Overrun us all and lock us away in Base 77 to make sure no one knows about it, and tenderize our brains! _Tenderize our brains, Seung!_" Deng rattled his pike in fear while Seung looked on disbelievingly.

"You have some serious mental issues, don't you, Deng?" Seung remarked before leading the child through the wall and bending it back up behind himself. Turning to the wide-eyed child, he had the chance to play the favourite uncle he always wanted to be, "now, young man? Have you have anything to eat all this time?"

"Nothing, mister," the child spoke innocently.

"Well, son, you're in for something of a treat," Seung turned towards the guard-house, where some fresh new bags had been deposited of foodstuffs that the Fire Nation had previously tried so hard to blockade. Now they were practically inundated in the stuff, especially this type of grapefruit that tasted like the sweetest, juiciest cherries you ever tasted, in grapefruit form. He supposed that was what the kid really needed right now, and gathered up two in order to share, "be prepared for some serious treats, young lad…"

He turned round to find the child had vanished from view, and looking from left to right could see no trace of him. He was left standing at the entrance of the base with grapefruits in his hands looking like a damn fool. The most he could muster at that point was an "oh dear."

* * *

The prisoners were grouped together in the same cell, a cobbled, straw-bedded, hastily-built construction with no light except the torches outside the bars, but fortunately enough it was a big cell. Fortunately if you weren't shackled to a metal board like Toph was, but it served Sokka's purpose of executing the good old-fashioned hiding-a-blade-in-the-glove trick which he was using the cut his ropes with. All evening.

"How long does it take to cut some rope?" Katara whispered urgently.

"It's thick rope! I'd like to see you cut them any faster," Sokka argued through gritted teeth.

"I will once they give us something to drink," Katara asserted confidently, "but it's not like Toph's doing anything."

"You try bending when your body's stretched out like meat on a stick!" Toph whispered harshly.

"Bosco would've been able to break us out of this cell…" Kuei lamented, leading to a hefty collective groan from the rest of the group.

"Your Majesty, I'm very sorry about the loss of your bear," Sokka comforted, "but look on the bright side! Right now it's free, out in the wilderness where it can join its elusive…bear…brothers…"

"If there are any," Katara whispered.

"And enjoy life to the full as animals shou-" Sokka continued until he was taken over by a shocked expression ,"I did it."

This announcement took the others by surprise, and Katara had to ask "did what?"

"I cut the rope!" Sokka seemed as surprised as anyone, "two hours of cutting and sawing and I finally did it!"

"Not so loud! There're still guards nearby," Toph warned, letting everyone realise they were far from out of the woods yet, "set me loose first, I can get us out of this cell."

"You relish every opportunity to use this skill of yours, don't you?" Sokka commented as he untwisted the locks holding Toph's shackles in place, eliciting the slyest smile Toph was capable of. And Toph held a substantial repertoire of sly smiles.

"I'm just doing my small bit for the team," Toph lied, dropping to the ground and stretching her aching limbs, before walking over to one of the bars that made up the cell, stretching a hand round it and snapping it from its moorings like it was a twig. She laid the bar to one side, leaned against the wall and grinned as she held out an arm towards the exit, "please remember to take your belongings with you as you exit the prison."

While freeing Katara's restraints, Sokka couldn't help but notice her spiteful expression in Toph's direction, which Toph fortunately couldn't see as Sokka had had his fill of bitter arguments this afternoon, saying simply "don't worry, you'll get a chance to show _her_ up sooner or later."

"I know. I'm looking forward to it," Katara muttered under her breath, rubbing her wrists harshly, before turning her attention to a mournful Earth King, "you okay to move?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Kuei resigned himself, kneeling to one side to allow Sokka to loosen his bindings, "just remind me, if I get back into power, I've got to do something about these prison conditions. They're _disgraceful_."

"Sure thing," Sokka loosened the rope and helped the Earth King to his feet, "here's hoping that's sooner rather than later."

"There're guards coming!" Toph gesticulated, and without any time to think they ran out of the cell and followed Toph up an opposing stairway.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	7. Amoha

The way through the tunnels that led out of the Fire Nation Royal Dungeons was long and rather convoluted, with potential pathways out all very inconveniently blocked. Iroh wracked his brains trying to think of what these tunnels were. The old 'ventilation shaft' seemed to wear increasingly thin as a reason, but the numerous peepholes along the tunnels that he stopped to look through opened up onto rooms and corridors of the Fire Palace. These were spying tunnels.

Iroh thought back through the mighty tomes of history he had absorbed in his mind over the years. One particular snippet revealed itself to him as he thought hard. The reign of Fire Lord Xizai The Mad. His mother, a rather feisty, demanding individual (which was why it was so hard to remember the details, he'd stopped listening at this bit to fantasize), had married Fire Lord Kozin shortly before his death, and had a son who was still an infant at the time of coming to the throne. She and her child had many enemies due to her being Kozin's second wife, while his first marriage had already born several, grown, daughters, who were widely considered more 'legitimate' heirs than Xizai.

So she had him hidden away in the dungeons to prevent him from being killed by the half-sisters' conspirators. A tunnel was reportedly built to allow him to escape should his hiding place ever be found out. And that's how he spent his early years, locked away in the dark, while his mother managed the Nation in his absence. Out of a sense of sympathy, the tunnels were, also reportedly, extended to allow him to look at the palace through special eyeholes. This network became so extensive that he ended up knowing every little secret of the palace. Unsurprisingly, this isolation, and this sense of _power_, made him go completely insane.

When Xizai turned 16, he finally emerged from his isolation to take his proper place on the throne of Fire Lord. His first act was to have his eldest half-sister killed. When he overheard his mother saying that he'd gone too far, his second act was thus to have his mother killed. Anyone who spoke out against this, mostly in private, was killed as well. In total, executions made up the first 173 official acts of Fire Lord Xizai. The 174th was to have the Royal Bath redecorated orange.

These acts of mayhem and slaughter, pointedly carried out without any pretence of due process of challenging and duelling, very promptly brought opposition. This was led secretly by the youngest of the half-sisters, Mizuka, who rather cannily retained a charmingly pleasant demeanour throughout Xizai's reign and communicated her conspiracy entirely through an elaborate system of winks and nods. Xizai, in the meantime, had convinced himself that he knew intimately not only the secrets of the palace but the secrets of everyone in the Fire Nation as well, coming to believe he was hearing people plotting against him in small villages 30 _li _away. He was so concentrated on routing out conspiracies in the countryside that he didn't notice Mizuka taking a stance straight behind him and opening fire.

It was that incident that established the precedent of giving male and female heirs equal standing, according to the Fire Lord's final decision at least, in order to make Mizuka the 'legitimate' leader of the Fire Nation after murdering Xizai instead of challenging him in an Agni Kai. It was a precedent that may come back to haunt them should Azula ever come to the throne, but Iroh took some comfort that, as certifiable as she was, she wasn't as mad as Fire Lord Xizai. She had good enough aesthetic sense not to redecorate a bath _orange_.

But, of all the Royal Dungeon cells, why did they chuck Iroh in Xizai's? It made him uncomfortable to be haunting tunnels made by a paranoid schizophrenic. Iroh often doubted his own sanity, but in a jovial kind of sense in recent years. Such tasteless associations with 'kookiness' may be Azula's doing, but he doubted that she at all expected to manipulate him by appealing to such base connotations. But despite all this, and try as hard as he might, he found himself perturbed that he was somehow expecting his son to appear in the dark tunnel and lead him out towards the light.

* * *

The building housing Appa was the newest in the complex, so the walls shone with torchlight as a consequence. There was only one torch over the entrance, but it was enough for Aang to assess the state Appa was in. The bison was completely grounded by thick rope, and rested sullenly. He didn't even react when Aang entered the compound. Not seeming to recognise him. Aang thought he understood, so he made his identity a little clearer.

"Hey boy, it's me," Aang waved at the creature, eliciting a minor raising of the head, a snuffle, and an intent stare. He'd never reacted like this to Aang before, but the boy felt that if he just demonstrated his good intentions the flying bison would hopefully mellow. So there came the obvious task of freeing him. But while Aang looked around the dusty floor he couldn't see hide nor hair of any kind of cutting instrument.

Aang could hardly use his finger-nails, and he didn't have much time to waste, so he looked around hurriedly and his eyes eventually fixed on the torch above the entrance. Looking down, he could see a preciously small pile of ash that had collected on the stone floor. It was perfect. He leant down to painstakingly pick up in both hands a tiny pile of ash in which there burned a single ember. Gingerly, he took the pile to a section of rope and dumped it on.

"Here's hoping I don't make a habit of this," Aang said to Appa's huge eye. He held both of his hands either side of the rope and breathed in and out, steadily and easily, closing his eyes and concentrating on the small flame on the rope. It seemed to be the only firebending trick he knew, but it was sufficient for the purpose, at the very least. After a few seconds of concentration the ember became brighter, whiter, and spread slowly across the surface of the rope. Eventually, with a sudden start, the section of rope burst into flames. Appa's eye reeled in shock.

"See? One down, fifteen to go-" Aang looked up smiling only to be knocked back by a terrifying roar from Appa. Rearing back with incredible strength, the fiery rope snapped, along with three others holding Appa's front, flaying themselves across the room with such power that Aang was trying hard to avoid them. It took a while for Aang to realise that Appa was intentionally trying to hit him.

"Calm down, boy! It's Aang!" Aang held up both his hands, only for Appa to breath in and knock the boy back against the wall harshly, knocking the wind out of him and sending him face-first into the dirt on the floor of the compound. Dazed, Aang peered up to see the angry and confused ten-ton creature roaring and flailing from side to side, snapping pieces of rope left to right. When enough was snapped, Appa was free to launch into a wild charge at the roof of the building, which was thin enough to allow him to escape, producing a cloud of dust and rocks that fell into the building.

Aang had enough wits about him to leap backwards bodily out of the building before it caved in on itself. He coughed up bits of dirt he accidentally breathed in, and looked up to see Appa circling the plume of smoke he had created. Aang couldn't help but think that Appa was capable of this all along, but it took seeing _him _to make the bison angry enough to do it. It took seeing a small, red-clad, firebending child he couldn't recognise as his oldest friend.

Lying on his back, he could feel his scar against the ground, the hole that he felt was spreading through him. Aang felt an abrupt sense of distance, where the world fell away, and his eyes fuzzed in and out while Appa was circling overhead. The gathering darkness felt almost comforting, but now wasn't the time, there was so much more to do, and his eyes snapped wide awake at the sound of the approaching guards.

"The prisoners are escaping! …all of them!" a sentry cried out, and Aang could feel beneath his body the rumble of feet as soldiers rushed to their stations. The boy sprang up and ran round the corner to hide from the soldiers approaching to inspect the damage. He rested against the wall, breathing himself awake, heartened that his friends were managing to escape. But now he needed a way to escape, and the only was…up.

* * *

The ground shook, and General Hu was awake in an instant. It was a product of strenuous self-training in anticipation of Fire Nation attacks, to instantly wake himself up and get his mind into acute, analytical attention so as to direct any counter-attack as determined by the circumstances. Once the crisis was over with, or otherwise determined to be a false alarm, he was out like a torch flame so safely ensconced in the land of nod you'd have double-checked if he was ever awake. He had gotten so proficient at it that he'd managed to spend most of his days sleeping. He was an old man, after all, and Generalship was tiring work.

He had fallen asleep at his desk, as was his custom, and was immediately struck by the absence of his Major or the Dai Li agent informing him of what was going on. Not one to waste time, no matter how much he really wanted to, the General stood up and made his way outside the tent, not breaking his step even as he grabbed a handful of nuts and threw it into the cage of the alert and screeching winged lemur that was caged next to a pile of the captives' possessions. He stepped into the torch-lit night outside the tent, and stood amazed.

General Hu liked to think he ran a professional outfit. He had been an officer in the Earth Kingdom army since he left his teens, and despite the Fire Nation seizing his family's considerable estates he managed to retain his influence through sheer administrative talent. While slogging through fifty years of unremitting conflict may have dulled his sensibilities, he still expected his troops to have a decent amount of initiative and reliability when faced with crisis. So when his forces appeared to be running around like headless chickens as a flying bison was circling around a plume of dust and substantial portions of his fortifications seemed to demolishing themselves, he couldn't help but stand firm in front of his tent, mouth agape at the carnage unfolding before his eyes.

"_Major Gin Hong, what in blazes is going on!?_" the General demanded, forcing the Major to disengage from helping his men attempt to hook ropes around the flying bison (and finding it hard to keep a hook on the _ground _at the same time). He ran to the General and saluted before him.

"Sir, the prisoners are attempting to escape and the bison has freed himself from his restraints," the Major reported.

"I never would have guessed," Hu remarked sarcastically, "I _did _say 'secure them _tightly_' didn't I? I put special emphasis on that _tightly_."

"We took every precaution, sir, I've no idea…" the Major began.

"Fifteen years under my service and you don't even know the old 'hidden blade in the glove' routine!?" the General interrupted incredulously, "you'd better work beyond the call of duty to bring them back, buster."

"They can't have escaped yet, sir, I've had all the exits sealed and they can't leave without that bison," the Major was hinting at his urgent desire to rejoin his men and recapture Appa.

"Well then if you're so certain you can handle them, _where are they!?_" the General placed fists on hips and demanded a response, which the Major was almost able to give as he looked behind the General in a shocked expression and began to point, interrupted at the crucial moment by a fast-travelling screeching ball of fur impacting on his face.

While the Major struggled with the winged creature, the General found himself mentally paralysed for a few vital seconds. He stared at the Major struggling valiantly with the animal and wondered what in the world was going on. He'd gotten so used to instant answers from his troops that their absence left him confused, unable to strategize and unable to analyze. For that small, crucial moment, old age finally crept up on General Hu. In the long run it wouldn't have really mattered if it wasn't right at that moment that a boomerang impacted violently against his head. His automatic sleep reflex was abruptly and involuntarily triggered, and you'd never guessed he was ever awake all evening.

"Sorry! We'll try to escape more quietly next time!" Sokka apologised to the unconscious General as he retrieved his favourite weapon. Katara, Toph and Kuei followed in tow, and when Major Gin Hong managed to pry Momo away from his face and took a stance to face them, Toph quickly broke step to send a pulse of earth through the ground and burst upwards below Gin Hong's feet, sending him flying. Sokka stuffed two fingers in his mouth and blew as hard as he could, attracting Appa's attention.

Appa was being held in place by several soldiers, holding lengths of rope and anchoring themselves with their rock-covered feet. Appa spun around, leading to a number of soldiers losing their feet and allowing Katara to send a blade of water flying across the surface, separating the soldier's feet from the ground and further allowing Appa to swing them in the opposite direction, sending the soldiers in all directions. Appa let his tail down for the others to board quickly, and it was only seconds later that Sokka was grabbing the reins and yelling at the top of his lungs "_yip yip_!"

Appa lurched into the sky, and nearly everyone was sent backwards by the force of the lift. They were soon at a height unreachable by the Earthbenders, whereupon Kuei collapsed on the side of Appa's back in exhaustion. "I wasn't meant for all this excitement," he gasped, just as his eyes caught something over the side of Appa in the fortress below, "um…say…isn't that the Avatar down there? Standing on the top of a roof with a torch waving his arms wildly?"

* * *

Aang liked high places, and getting to them was a special pleasure once upon a time. He was still small, light and flighty, but he couldn't remember climbing onto roofs taking so much _effort _before. His left knee hurt from sliding against a small incline, and it was taking his last reservoirs of strength to signal his friends. Appa was turning around and descending towards him, and Aang knew it was a good idea to set the torch aside so not to alarm Appa, so he relaxed and waited for his friends to approach.

"Jump on! We have to get you out of there!" Katara called to Aang, who duly tensed himself to grab onto Appa as he passed, but a split second before, Aang fully emerged in torch-light before Appa's eyes. A mighty roar split everyone's ears and Appa lurched precipitously upwards.

"Whoa, man! Whoa!" Sokka pulled back on the reins in vain, and barely kept himself stable on Appa's head. The rest were shaken about like rag dolls, while Aang himself had fallen onto his back, staring at Appa in unspoken confusion. The others were more vocal about their confusion.

"What did you do that for!?" Katara yelled, as Toph squeezed hard on Appa's fur with both hands and feet.

"It wasn't me!" Sokka protested, as he brought Appa around for another try. Aang remained with his back on the roof, staring in incomprehension, until voices interrupted from below.

"There's something on that roof! Surround the building!" a voice called out into the night, sounding like Major Gin Hong. Aang, realising time was short, scuttled over to the torch and stamped it out with his foot.

"Try again! I think it was the fire!" Aang called to the group, as Sokka sent Appa diving for another try. Things seemed to be going better until Appa once again let out a roar of discomfort and lurched to the side, avoiding Aang and sending a wave of air that deposited him on the other side of the roof.

"I think I'm going to be ill…" Toph remarked weakly, while Kuei surprisingly retained a much better stomach, and Sokka was busy arguing with Appa.

"What's wrong with this thing!?" Sokka whipped the reins in frustration, "what will make you do what I damn well want you to do!?"

Aang overheard further orders from the Major from his corner of the roof, "wait until the next pass! Then strike with all you've got!" The roof's sudden sense of instability encouraged Aang to stand on his own two feet. He looked towards Appa, who seemed to have no inclination to descend anymore, and momentarily felt fuzzy once again. It was like everything was leaving him…or he was leaving everything. He shook his head out of it and breathed sharply in defiance, mentally willing Appa to do the right thing.

"We're going to have to land!" Katara implored, "we'll have to get Aang onto Appa ourselves!"

"We don't have time for...!" Sokka thought hard, "what else can I…!?" Sokka thought harder, "oh for Yue's…" Sokka finally decided, standing up on Appa's head and whipping the reins as hard as his hands could manage, "_STRAWBERRY CURRY!_"

The effect was immediate. Appa rocketed down towards the roof, hellbent on avoiding all distractions and focused on what was in front of him. As Appa skirted across the roof at full speed, Aang leaped on and grabbed a few stray tufts of Appa's fur, a split second before the roof fell away from his feet. The entire building seemed to turn inward and threatened to trap the group just as they were escaping, but Appa's speed prevented the stone wall from forming around them, and a snaking tendril of rock that swirled towards Appa's feet only managed a small noose of stone, shattering easily.

The fortress was left behind, and with pursuit unlikely the entire group heaved a sigh of relief. It was hard, incredibly hard, and Aang, despite the distance he was feeling from everything, held onto Appa's fur with a sense of melancholy. As he stared, he coddled up close to Appa's warm body, and felt the beast's heartbeat. It was fast and urgent, but dying down as they escaped. It was a beat he'd known for all his childhood, but it seemed unfamiliar now, and he rested quietly, wanting more than anything to bring that connection back. He shed no tears. He was running out of tears to shed. Toph thankfully interrupted the depressing mood with a voice that sounded like a colony of slugs was nesting inside her throat, "I was ill…"

* * *

Major Gin Hong stood before the remains of Seventh Platoon's barracks, looking at the fast disappearing bison. There were no advantages to press, and he knew that better than the currently unconscious General did. This was a moment he knew he had to pause and contemplate, but the Dai Li agent approaching from behind wouldn't allow him the opportunity.

"The General's incapacitation leaves you in command, Major," the Dai Li informed the soldier. While the brigade knew this to be the case already, the Dai Li's word made it official, and that brought along the need to make a good decision quickly.

"We'll continue the pursuit," the Major decided, turning towards the Dai Li and asking, "do you have any information on where they're headed?"

"I'd recommend heading west. Previous sightings indicate that as the direction they're flying in," the Dai Li intoned. The Major attempted to begin ordering his men to their stations to begin tracking the bison until rudely interrupted by a brief, precise shower of some unspecified, gut-wrenchingly nauseous yellow substance. The Dai Li monotonely commented "I'd also recommended getting a wash first."

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	8. Diverting Streams

Iroh pushed against every door he came across, and at this point he had gotten so tired and irritated that all he was doing was giving the various metal portals a mild shove while walking continuously in a trance. The Fire Palace really didn't need to be this _big_, thought Iroh. One could easily chop off the east wing and no one would even notice. It's just so much unnecessary exercise, when in practice all a ruler needs to do is sit in a throne and get fat. All the rest is just for show. Though on the other hand, and to his everlasting regret, you can't really get fat on the Fire Lord's throne.

Strength is the most important hallmark of a Fire Lord, and the frequent demonstration of it the key towards maintaining power. Administrative capability, devious power-plays and having piles of money are all secondary to brute, physical force. It was a rat-race Iroh ultimately lost in, due simply to how much better Ozai was at demonstrating strength than himself. Iroh was conscious that he was well-regarded during his time, a tactical genius and formidable warrior (apparently. He liked to think he didn't pay attention to that kind of stuff). But Ozai? Ozai was a monster. He's only a few years younger than Iroh and yet has never ceased seeming capable of crushing girders in his bare hands. Iroh could never have hoped to compete even if he felt inclined. Ozai was stronger, single-minded, and most importantly he actually had a gene-pool.

Ozai's children. One made him shudder, the other made him utterly miserable. He hoped they'd have a wonderful time together. The freaks.

Iroh was so absorbed in his thoughts that it was some distance down the tunnel before he realised that one of the doors behind him had given way when he pushed. He turned back to test each one out, and the third one back seemed to creak back a little more. There was barely more light than in the tunnel, but then it was night-time. The door was noiseless as Iroh pushed it open, presumably a consequence of its construction. No sense in making a secret door that creaks.

Iroh poked his head through the door and looked around. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness he could just see the corners of a large bed, around which were vast acres of space, interrupted by the odd indefinable object or two. He was only able to make out that much thanks to the reflective glint of some strange pattern along the walls, which seemed to be lined with gold. Iroh was unfamiliar enough with the room to know exactly what it was: the Fire Lord's bedroom. Ozai never let Iroh anywhere near the place, and he had been bored enough to know most other places in the Palace. Especially the kitchens. Damn, his thinking was being hijacked by food.

It wasn't too his liking, principally because it was so sparse. If Iroh had become Fire Lord, he would have been sure to put in as many cushions and tables as the Royal finances could afford. At times the Dragon of the West had felt that he might as well have had the room anyway. It wasn't as if his brother ever used the place. He was too busy sitting on his throne and looking hard. But why here? Why did Xizai's tunnels lead him to this room? It was an excellent opportunity, to be sure, but considering how well-guarded his brother kept the place Iroh was better off heading back into the tunnel again.

Before Iroh decided on his course of action, there was a movement in the shadows, and he noticed almost immediately the sharp, glimmering object flying towards him. With no time to duck, Iroh instinctively grabbed the thing, and found his hand wrapping itself around some form of handle. He stared confusedly at the blade, until it reflected a pillar of light that suddenly streamed into the room.

"Uncle?" spoke a voice, and Iroh turned to see his nephew, staring at him from the open door to the bedroom in incomprehension. Their eyes locked for the first time since the Old City, and Iroh saw in Zuko a conflicted, hurt, tempestuous and uncertain young boy. But he couldn't see his son.

"Zuko! Ty Lee told me about the plot," Azula rushed in from the right of the door-frame, accompanied by the sound of heavy boots from a dozen or so soldiers, not that she ever really needed them, "looks like our wise and honourable General Iroh isn't above assassination when things don't go his way."

Iroh knew this performance was for Zuko's benefit. He could try to explain that this was a set-up, that it wasn't what it looked like, that the poisoned knife in his hand was planted there, that Azula was behind all this, that Zuko must know, deep down, that he'd never do such a thing. But, their eyes locked for all this time, he couldn't bring himself to do any of these things. This whole charade was _beneath_ him.

Iroh broke his eyes away in disgust, and violently flung the knife down, embedding it in the floor. He raised his hands, allowing them to be handled by the approaching guards and fastened behind his back. Marched out, he didn't even look in Zuko's direction. He'd lost all interest in the machinations of the Fire Nation royalty, lost interest in the Fire Nation, and lost interest in the world, and everyone in it.

Zuko, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off Iroh's back until he had disappeared around a corner in the vast, vaulted corridors. Azula placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"You see now, Zuko?" Azula comforted in that uncomfortable way only Azula knew, "the path your Uncle walks down is a path of treachery and disloyalty. We're all part of a family, brother, and we need to stick together. Thanks to you, this plot was foiled. See what we can achieve together? See what becomes of those who don't?"

Zuko continued staring at the empty space his uncle disappeared from, contemplative. He sighed almost noiselessly, and shook Azula's hand off of his shoulder, walking speedily back to his room without a word spoken. Azula smiled, and turned into the Fire Lord's bedroom as soon as Zuko was a respectable distance away. The Fire Princess strode confidently before the colossal bed and spoke amusedly, "good work, I never even noticed you were in here."

"I needed something to keep me occupied," Mai spoke, revealing herself. She seemed to have stepped out of nothing, and even in the light of corridor she felt like she was only half there. Azula's smile spread even wider.

"You sure it was boredom, or something else that got you interested in playing with sweet little Zuko?" Azula questioned, glancing towards Mai without turning her head. Mai slunk back, her red cheeks giving some colour to the blackness she inhabited.

"What do you want with him, anyway?" Mai attempted to hide her flutter of emotion with a small dose of irritation, "do you really expect him to buy all this?"

"Not really," Azula kept her grin, looking past her shoulder into the corridor behind her, "he's wizened up a lot these past months. I expect him to turn against us sooner or later. I just want to make it _hard_."

* * *

The batch of trees the group was hiding in sat near the foothills of a large mountain range, the next stage of their journey. It was eerily convenient that the Earth Army base lay in the precise direction they were headed towards, but they couldn't continue counting on that kind of luck…if _luck _was the appropriate word for such things. After their escape, they'd managed to flee a considerable distance under the cover of night, but they'd needed this patch of wood to conceal themselves and rest after last nights' excursions. It wasn't much, but it was sufficient for the purpose. Both Appa and Momo were taking the opportunity to grab some sleep, while the others buzzed around in frenetic activity.

"That was way too close," Katara gathered up what materials they could and stuffed them in her satchel bag. Without Appa's mount they were obliged to carry all their supplies on their own persons, and even two days' supply of food was tiring to carry along with the numerous other things they needed to travel with. They couldn't last long like this.

"I'll say," Toph sat with hands clasped around knees, not helping with the packing, as usual, but taking this series of events with a little more humour than the rest of them, "one day on the run in this 'brave new order' and we all nearly got rock-sandwiched."

"It's getting impossible to get all the way across the Earth Kingdom at this rate, while everything with a frikkin' _heartbeat _seems to want a piece of us," Sokka was helping to pack, but frequently interrupting himself to bitterly complain at the world, fate, and his stomach, and out of the corner of his eye saw something else to run to the edge of the treepatch and complain at, "yeah! How about you!? You want some too, you jerks!?"

Sokka was yelling at a couple of elder shepherds leading a small batch of hippo-cows along a small dirt path, who looked up with some confusion towards the yelling water tribe boy. One broke out in astonishment at what he saw behind Sokka.

"Look! It's the Avatar's bison!" the first shepherd pointed.

"Get 'im!" the second shepherd began running towards the group.

"I saw 'im first!" the first shepherd tripped the second up and struggled forward towards the woodpatch. Sokka would have raised the alarm but the whole kefaffle looked so utterly inept that he felt himself insulted by their incapability. He turned back towards the group and felt himself utterly drained of all sense of humour.

"I think we need to change our plan," Sokka spoke monotonely, "Katara's claim that Aang was dead…good thinking, by the way, sis…may get the Fire Nation off our backs a bit, but there are still other things we need to deal with."

"We need to get the King to a place of safety, it's too dangerous having him with us," Katara suggested, before holding her hands out in recognition of Kuei's presence, "uh…no offence, Your Majesty."

"None taken, I assure you," the King had attempted to make himself useful, but without Bosco by his side he was utterly rudderless, "I don't think I'm going to be of much use to you."

"No! You're a _great _help to us…" Katara reassured…unreassuringly, "but if the Earth King gets captured again and we're not able to save him, then all chances of freeing the Earth Kingdom disappear."

"I don't think Sokka means just the Earth King," Toph stood up and wandered over to the assembled meeting.

"What are you talking about?" Katara questioned, turning momentarily to Sokka, who seemed dour yet determined.

"She's talking about Appa," Sokka said level-voiced.

"What!?" Katara was taken aback, "we can't leave Appa!"

"He's a total liability!" Toph complained, "wave something hot in front of his face and he goes berserk! How good do you think he's going to fare in Fire Nation territory? He doesn't even recognise Aang anymore!"

"How can you say that!?" Katara appealed, "we spent a month looking for him! Aang! You can't let them say this!"

"It's alright, Katara…it's true," Aang was facing away from the rest of group, kneeling down over a pile of nuts he had spent some of the morning sorting through for something edible. Seemingly finished, he stood up with a bag of nuts in hand and walked towards Appa's sleeping body, placing a small, fragile hand on the bison's forehead, "something must have happened to him during those lost days. He's angry and confused at all the changes going on. We all are, in a way, but him more than we realise. He needs to be somewhere safe and stable…"

"Listen, I love the big fluffy monstrosity as much as anyone else here," Sokka attracted Katara's attention, "but it's for his own good. He's a great big signpost wherever we go, anyway! If we keep dragging him around with us, eventually we're going to run into people with a lot better rope."

"I lost him once," Toph interrupted, "I don't want to lose him again. He's going to be much safer if he isn't around…us."

"I…I guess you're right," Katara conceded to numbers, looking back at the red-clothed, fuzzy-haired kid, "but…Aang…don't you…"

"It's okay, we'll all know where he is," Aang petted Appa's brow, "he'll have someone to keep him company at least, won't he, Kuei?"

Kuei had sat down and listened to the whole conversation, believing he'd managed to get the gist of it, and took a while to recognise that it was _his _name Aang had said, "oh! Oh yes! Of course he will…he is house-trained, isn't he?"

"There we go, another animal to call your friend, Your Majesty," Sokka grinned, and the honest, joyous smile that crossed Kuei's face was indication enough that he'd grasped the right straw. While watching the Earth King's expression, Sokka picked up a stray sentence spoken to the shepherds still making their haphazard way towards the patch of wood. Sokka turned back to the two elderly men and asked aloud, "what did you say?"

"I said we couldn't hope to capture you by ourselves because you're a bunch of bending masters and a military genius," the first shepherd called to Sokka, "so we're going to go and tell some soldiers to come and get you! …uh…you…fiends…"

Sokka felt light-headed at this statement, and at that moment there was more smile than face on his expression. He dreamily recounted, "I'm…I'm _famous_…"

Sokka was abruptly swung around, and after a moment of dizziness saw that Toph was holding a stance and looking annoyed, "calm down, military genius boy, we still need to find out where to park this living mound of flying fluff."

"The Northern Water Tribe?" Katara suggested, "they'd take good care of the King as well…"

"You heard what the General said! Carrying five people across _li _and _li _of ocean with both Fire and Earth Navies between us and them?" Sokka asked rhetorically, "not a chance. And that's even before we touch on how exactly we're supposed to get _back_."

"But…where else can there be?" Kuei wondered out loud. A silence hung over them until an almost audible 'ding' came from Aang's thought processes.

"The Northern Air Temple!" Aang said excitedly.

"The Gliders! Of course!" Katara shared in the excitement, "they've got to be able to help us! They're only half a day's travel from here!"

"Who're the Gliders?" Toph asked sceptically. Momo had been awakened by the burst of excitement and crept exhaustedly to the side of Appa's back.

"A group of refugees led by a Mechanist, who made their home in the temple," Sokka elaborated, "We helped defend them some months back. They've invented all kinds of cool flying machines."

"Oh…great…" Toph attempted to drum up some enthusiasm, and manifestly failed, "…flying."

"Both the Earth King and Appa will be safe there, and we can walk down into Fire Nation territory," Aang explained, "Appa will feel right at home, won't you boy?"

Aang was stroking Appa's head, and Momo, who had crept over the fringe of Appa's brow, seemed to be joining in. The moment made them pause. They could feel the small family of the Air Nomad, the last of its kind in all the world, breaking up in front of them. The decision had been made, and this would be one of their final moments together for a while. The silence allowed Aang his moment. But they couldn't tell if he was taking it.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	9. Wu Wei

Zuko hadn't had much sleep in a long while, and that wasn't changing anytime soon. Instead of facing his dark dreams he had invented numerous different ways of coping, involving pinching, sitting uncomfortably, drinking lots of fluids, all sorts of methods. But as of late he was coming to terms with his restlessness. If nothing else it was keeping him on his toes, and he needed that extra level of paranoid adrenaline to face the meeting he was in. The last, and only, meeting of Ozai's top lieutenants Zuko had attended resulted in his disgrace, his banishment, and the mark on his face. Hopefully this time around would be a bit more successful.

He looked down as he knelt beside the giant map of the world and kept his mouth shut, only looking up to make himself angry with the smug look on Azula's face, kneeling upright in a space directly opposite him. Of course, Azula was frequently hard to read, but at the very least she was intentionally making herself _look _snug, presumably with the intention of peeving him off, daring him to repeat the same mistake he made last time he was in one of these councils. Zuko wouldn't rise to the bait, if there was any such bait, but he couldn't help but feel the other generals eye him warily. He still wasn't wearing his top-knot, and still dressed in his utilitarian outfit that didn't dare mark him out as a prince, and that just made him look more suspicious. He still wasn't entirely accepted into the inner circle of the Fire Lord, but his imminent announcement might just smooth things, if not his conscience.

If Zuko had been paying special attention, he might have noticed that some of the generals were eyeing _Azula _just as warily. Azula was paying attention, as she paid attention to everything. She just didn't really care.

"Our troops are in the process of redeploying north, to meet the threat of the Water Tribe along with our Earth Kingdom allies," War Minister Qin was standing between the map and the door, waving a long stick across the northern edge of the Earth Kingdom, informing the generals of the latest developments and addressing queries that Zuko quite frankly hadn't been paying attention to, before circling the stick around the north-east, "as of today, we have established seventy-six military bases across our overseas territories, providing us with an extensive network to now not only secure our footholds but _integrate _them as well. This corresponds with the substantial lessening of the number of threats to our Nation's soil. In the last few days there have been a number of attacks on our shipping in the Mo Ce Sea, but the reported nature of these attacks makes it hard to attribute them to enemy action. There has been no information regarding the Avatar since he was last seen in Ba Sing Se, but reported sightings indicate that he's somewhere in this area…"

"I'm not worried about the Avatar. For all we know he's probably dead by now," one of the generals had stood up and produced a long stick of his own, using it to ungraciously stab the Fire Nation-occupied north-west, "what I'm worried about is that despite the latest redeployments attacks against our colonies have actually _increased_! How are we supposed to respond to this!?"

"It began soon after the new treaty was signed," another general interrupted, "Earth Kingdom irregulars are using the new peace to slip through our defences and attack our cities, before retreating back into secret bases on Earth Kingdom territory."

"We can't possibly tolerate this blatant act of treachery!" a third general joined in the outburst, "we return their Prisoners of War and they repay us by attacking our cities! We can't trust the Earthbenders to keep to their word, so why should we keep ours!?"

"Because the Earthbenders will have to answer to me," Azula coolly spoke, "there is no need to worry about the treaty. I give my word that the perpetrators will be caught and punished severely for violating the treaty and daring to harm the safety of the Fire Nation."

The room went quiet after Azula's proclamation, as the generals were uncomfortably reminded that the 15-year-old girl in their midst held a position even higher than theirs not only in name but in deed, complete with its own set of green-clothed sycophants who at this very moment stood some distance behind Azula, guarding the throne room alongside the Fire Nation Royal Guards. Azula had suddenly and abruptly grown in the public eye and the generals were not at all comfortable with this. Zuko felt that it was long overdue for them to feel exactly the same things _he _felt about her. A burst of flame and a seismic chuckle from the throne of the Fire Lord made them all look up towards the end of the throne room.

"The matter is settled then…" Ozai pronounced, his face hidden by the flames, "I entrust my Scorched Earth Queen to see to it…"

Zuko did a double-take. Did Azula _wince _just now? She was always very careful to show exactly what she wanted to show, but there was very definitely a grimace that passed a split-second over her face before being rapidly suppressed, if someone was looking hard enough. Zuko suppressed a small grin of his own. It was just like their father to make up some horrendously melodramatic title like 'Scorched Earth Queen' if the situation demanded it, and just like Azula to treat it like a millstone around her neck. The rest of the generals were too busy seething to notice. This was a rare moment of mirth that was Zuko's, and Zuko's alone.

"There is one more thing we need to discuss, oh Fire Lord," Azula shot a cold stare towards Zuko, determined to interrupt her brother's reverie.

"Ah, yes…" Ozai intoned, "we are here to determine the fate of my treacherous _brother _Iroh. He who dared to try to poison me in my bed-chamber last night. The one who foiled this plot is here now in this very room. Would _he _like to determine Iroh's fate?"

This was it, the big moment. The moment of his final reconciliation. He knew exactly what to say, and also knew that after saying it he would finally be welcomed back into his family. It brought no joy in him. Zuko felt ten times heavier as he got to his feet and looked down, unable to look at his father's darkened face as he said those fateful words, "Iroh's fate must be to meet his end, in the way that all enemies of the Fire Nation must be punished."

Zuko remained standing, and could feel the Fire Lord's gaze burrow into his scar. Far from lifting it, his attempt at reconciliation just made it feel more noticeable on his skin. It felt like it had gained physical weight, and it felt like his father's stare was strengthening it. It felt worse now even than when he first gained the scar. At least back then there was a Zuko left to feel it. Now the scar was all there was. The generals looked on in rapt attention. Azula smiled. The Fire Lord maintained his stare until he felt Zuko's answer to be his final one.

"…yes, my son," Ozai finally said, lifting nothing from Zuko's shoulders, "you now know the meaning of loyalty. From loyalty comes strength, the strength to do what is necessary. You have made yourself strong, Prince Zuko…"

Zuko screwed his eyes tight and clenched both his fists. His father's love felt like a pile of rusty nails being dragged down his back. He didn't want it, just for the moment at least. He only realised belatedly that his father had stopped abruptly, and opened his eyes to see that all the generals' attentions had been redirected towards the door. Azula, curiously enough, was still looking at him, but not really watching him. There was no expression on her face except concentration. She didn't seem to be so much scanning him as using him as a point of reference.

Zuko looked to the door to see that it was slightly ajar, and a slightly worried Long Feng had stepped into the gap with a bundle of papers in one hand. The Grand Secretary of the Earth Kingdom had obviously interrupted the meeting, and Long Feng was astute enough to realise that now probably wasn't the best time, "my apologies, Your Lordship. There are just some matters regarding Earth Kingdom affairs that I felt needed to be brought to some attention."

Zuko sat down. He didn't know what to think of the Earthbending bureaucrat, except that he was incredibly out of place in the Fire Lord's Palace. He dressed in too many layers, seemed to lack anything resembling a profile, and clung to Azula like a lost puppy at times. Zuko could tell the generals actively disliked Long Feng, and he didn't need to feel the burst of heat on the back of his neck to know what his father thought of the poor man. Before Ozai's wrath could fall on the mandarin, Azula stood up and faced her father determinedly, "I'll handle this, father."

Ozai's temper rumbled down reluctantly, "yes…address these concerns to the Scorched Earth Queen, and don't bother us with this Earthbender nonsense!"

Zuko noticed Long Feng's rather more pronounced wincing at the Fire Lord's pet title for his daughter, but was quick to cover it up and bowed graciously as Azula approached the door, signalling her Dai Li agents to follow her. They slunk from their positions and followed the Fire Princess silently. Long Feng held the door wider to allow Azula past, while the Fire Lord geared up for his final announcement.

"This council is over. We will convene tonight under the new moon for a great celebration, where we will honour our victory…and…my children," Ozai announced, leading Azula to turn and smile in the Fire Lord's direction before leaving the throne room. Zuko could barely muster the energy to look up. He felt no pride, but couldn't tell if he was feeling shame. He didn't know what he was feeling. All he knew was that he was far from happy at how things were going.

* * *

The day dragged on, and on Appa's bare back a day felt even longer than it had any right to. They had left the foothills far behind and were travelling across grey peaks, no longer snow-capped in the summer heat. Not that Toph could tell such things. She still seemed to be recovering from her stomach upset from yesterday, and Momo had taken to rubbing his feet into her back. It may have just been because it felt so spongy, but at least it made her feel better.

"You said it was _half a day_," Toph complained, too ill to turn her head towards Katara, who was looking over a map of the area.

"Well…it…_looked _like half a day on the map…" Katara said apologetically, "it's hard to gauge distance on these things."

"Come on, we can't be that far," Sokka called from Appa's head, "we've been going over these mountains for a good few hours now. We should be seeing it any minute…please…"

"I never fully appreciated how big my kingdom was…" Kuei wasn't yet entirely used to the act of travelling yet, and still looked upon vast vistas of terrain as something gasp-in-wonder-worthy.

"Woop de doo, Your Majesty," Toph added sarcastically, "you owned half the known world and never saw any of it. Trust me, being an outlaw is a whole lot more fun."

Katara decided to ignore the group's whingeing for now, and brushed her long hair out of her face as she turned her head towards the small boy in the corner of Appa's bare back, looking over at the ground below. Aang had been conspicuously silent on the entire trip, not that they weren't used to that by now, and Katara had gotten worried. To be more exact, she'd always been worried, but now her worry had grown acute. She was still wondering exactly what had happened to Aang to make him this way. He was distant from seemingly everything, barely paying attention to his changed appearance, brushing off being chased by mobs, and now he and Appa were separating and he seemed to be okay with it. The old Aang would never have accepted it. He'd have yelled, cried, stood firm and not let anyone near the bison, and if he did accept only after fierce argument and with extreme reluctance. But he would never just _give in_, that…just wasn't Aang.

And they'd been on Appa's back for two days now and Aang hadn't once sneaked a look at her. That was _freaky_ by Aang standards. Then, at that moment, as Katara was looking over the red-clad Air Nomad, she saw him look over Appa's side and…gasp.

"What is it, Aang!?" Katara quickly pounced on this rare show of emotion, and leant forward to look at what the boy was gasping towards. It was hard to make out, but hidden amongst the mountains were a serious of mysterious structures. They looked like…conduits. Katara was mystified, "what are those?"

"'Those' are the underground water tunnels of the City of Lieu!" Aang announced with an enthusiasm that immediately gathered the others' attention, except for Kuei, whose face was twisted in confusion.

"'Lieu'?" the Earth King wondered out loud, "doesn't that mean 'large carp'?"

"Biggest carp there is!" Aang turned to Kuei with a huge, satisfyingly Aangy smile that infected the rest of them as he looked back down again, "the city was built deep in the mountains, and to keep it fed and watered they Earthbended tunnels into the rock to redirect the river running down this way! They even used it to fish! Some of the biggest carp around were kept as pets! It was an old city, and only a few people lived there back in my time. It's probably deserted now."

"How did you find out about this place?" Toph wondered, wanting to know about this place that everyone else could see. Momo, his spongy back-rub interrupted, flew up to Toph's shoulder.

"Bumi told me about it when I visited him…" Aang recalled, "it was back before the war started."

"Let me guess. Water slides?" Sokka advanced his fairly well-informed opinion.

"That's what he wanted to find out!" Aang elaborated, "he'd heard about it from some passing travellers but never found the time to go there himself. I've always wanted to see it!"

"Great! Let's take a look!" Katara smiled wide-eyed at Aang, who looked eager to find out the Big Carp's mysteries. But before her eyes Aang's hunger for adventure seemed to disappear, to be replaced by a distant smile, as if he were looking back at another time.

"No. There's no time," Aang knelt backwards onto Appa's back, "we have so much greater responsibilities to think of. We can't get distracted by things like this."

The others could feel the moment ebb away, and retreated back to their places, knowing it was a false alarm. Katara kept close to Aang, not so willing to give up on this rare glimmer of the 12-year-old boy she'd learned to love. It was hard to tell, but Katara could tell a nostalgic hankering in Aang's eyes, like he was fondly remembering a time long ago. He looked as if he really had lived 112 years, and his youth was long behind him. There may not have been time to discover the water tunnels of Lieu, but Aang never failed to _make _the time. At least, the Aang _she _knew would have.

"Aang…something's happened to you," Katara finally blurted out, unsure how to proceed, "you've been acting strange ever since you recovered."

Aang looked contemplative for a moment before glancing towards Katara, "there's a lot to do and little time to do it in. I'm just…focusing on what we need to do. That's what I should have been doing all along. I just…understand better now."

"That's not everything," Katara insisted, and the others lent over with their ears to overhear the exchange, "you haven't told us about what the Guru told you in the cave. You can't bend anything except fire, and you're acting so…distant. Like the world's here but you're…something else."

Aang seemed briefly overcome with melancholy, not entirely prepared to say what was coming next. He felt that Katara wasn't yet ready to hear everything. She was still too worried. But Aang owed it to her to tell her all he could, "back at the Old City, I managed to unlock my chakras…the paths of my spirit that allowed me to access the Avatar State. But since I was attacked, the whole process got kind of…messed up. Now my fate and the fate of the Avatar Spirit are one and the same. It's still weak, but if I learn Firebending…I can make it better again."

Katara knew what Aang was tiptoeing around. She had known it the whole time but now she knew for sure how serious it was. She had seen what happened, felt his body, and knew it to be true, "you died, didn't you?"

Aang suspected that Katara knew, and did not dare deny it. The others were taken aback by this stark message, and even Momo had paused his acts of neck massage to take notice. Aang nodded, "that's why I've been acting different. I'm sorry I scared you, that wasn't my intention. It's just that I've seen how much bigger the universe is than all of us…I can't stop to think about things like my clothing, or riding water slides, or being friends with a bison…or…you…"

The reluctance with which Aang spoke that last word struck Katara with a tide of ambivalence. She cared about Aang more than Aang cared about himself at times, but she knew that Aang cared more deeply about her than at times she really recognised. Only in its absence did she realise what it was Aang felt for her. Even now…he didn't want to hurt her by admitting those feelings were gone. That Aang really had died back in the Old City, that what she told General Hu really wasn't a lie, and that this strange person had emerged in his place. But…"but you still want the small things! You cried when you couldn't bend! You promised Appa strawberry curry! You wanted to ride the Big Carp! I know, somewhere in there…you're still…you…"

Aang closed his eyes, "It's okay, Katara. I know it's hard, but it's better this way. If I want to put this world back together, I need to be as close to the truth as I can. I need to let go of everything, and see the world as it is."

For that moment, and just for that moment, Katara felt far wiser than the bending monk. To see the world as it was, Aang needed to see the world. To be as close to the truth as he could, he needed to feel it up close. To let go of everything was to pull himself away from the world he was trying to save. If he wanted to know life, he needed to be alive. A plan formulated in Katara's mind, and a devilish smile crossed her face.

Aang was knocked out of his momentary moment of solitude by Katara placing her hands around his. He looked up as the Water Tribe girl lifted him from his knees and onto his feet, feeling intensely confused.

"Katara…you…don't want to lose your balance…" Aang advised. Katara led Aang along like they were both floating, closer to the edge of Appa's back.

"Hey…Katara…what are you doing?" Sokka wondered.

"That doesn't look very safe…" Kuei pointed out, as Katara giggled from the attention, pulling another foot forward.

"What's going on?" Toph queried, while Momo was still staring inquisitively. The winged lemur started screeching as he realised what was going on.

"Now, listen, you don't want to do this…" Aang was looking down at the awful, awful height and felt his heart pulpating at a million miles a second.

"Katara, stop that right now!" Sokka ordered, but the girl just spread her arms out to bring Aang closer to her on the edge.

"Why is this happening?" Kuei felt puzzled, while Aang looked into Katara's gleeful, trustworthy face and wondered endlessly about what was in store for him.

"I want to know what's going on!" Toph demanded. Katara leaned backwards and Aang panicked, reaching out to catch her.

"No…wait! Stop! You know I can't do that anymore!" Aang pleaded. Katara laughed as she grabbed Aang around the mid-section while she was toppling over backwards. Aang cried as he tried to keep balance, "No…Katara! Please! I can't…I…AAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEE!"

Katara squealed as both her and Aang fell off of Appa. The others rushed over to catch them falling, but by the time they looked over the two were already disappearing into the clouds.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	10. Riding The Big Carp

Aang for the first time felt what was meant by the expression 'hairs standing on end'. To complicate matters further the wind was rushing through his emergent fuzz at a speed that made him feel like his head was coming off. There were good reasons why Airbenders had shaved heads, and this was one of them. Little of this mattered to Katara, Aang noticed, who seemed elated in terror. She held out an arm into the clouds, keeping the other tight around Aang, and spun elegantly, the slight motions in her hand forming a string of water from the clouds. In short order their free-fall was superseded by the vortex of water Katara formed around themselves. She stepped onto the edges and held an arm forward in concentration, the devious smile never leaving her face.

The vortex spiralled out of the clouds, through the vast blue sky, and towards the ancient City of Lieu, its riders clinging on to each other as their bodies rocketed downwards. There was an opening through which a steady stream of water was pouring, pointing upwards towards the heavens, and this was what Katara carefully aimed at, the wind stinging her wide open eyes and whipping her long hair in all directions, intently focussed on giving Aang the ride of his life if that was the last thing she did. Aang was earnestly hoping it _wasn't _the last thing she did, or that he did for that matter, but his choice had been made, and he clung close as the vortex closed the gap between sky and mountain and sent the both of them plummeting into darkness.

Aang didn't dare close his eyes, no matter how hard the wind bit them to tears. But now in the darkness his optics felt some relief. It was pitch black compared to the world outside, and he couldn't see a thing, but he trusted Katara to feel the water flowing under her feet, which she seemed to be using as a…surf board? That alone made Aang reluctant to trust Katara with much else, but he couldn't do much clinging to Katara's side, feet never daring to touch the rapid waters beneath them both.

Then there was light.

An opening above them appeared, a vast man-made chamber that housed the water-chute, which swerved from side-to-side down to the ground below, hugging the rock face the whole way. The warm summer light streamed down, illuminating the carvings and statues that lined the chamber. Pillars and walkways curved around the rock-face, and moss collected in the damp places. Beside them, facing the sun, small cherry trees clung precariously to collect what little light there was and sucking up the sweet moisture of the stream. The City of Lieu wasn't dead. It had been reborn.

"WOOO!" Katara skipped over one of the bends, and Aang noticed that she had formed an ice shard to better ride the waters. They flew through the air briefly before rejoining the stream, on its way down to more narrow tunnels, but as they flew the light caught the ice shard and reflected onto Katara's face, joyous and terrified beyond measure.

It was the most beautiful thing Aang had ever seen. But he didn't know there were even more breath-taking sights to come as they flowed deeper into the tunnels.

* * *

The rest of the group had planted themselves atop the city, on a flat rocky plateau with some impressive views of the surrounding area. Sokka was in little mood to be appreciative, and pressed the prone Toph for information.

"What's going on down there!?" Sokka demanded. Toph was kneeling down and feeling the ground, Momo still perched on her shoulder, while Kuei stood aside to let what he assumed to be the professionals carry on their work. Toph smirked, and abruptly stood up.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it feels like fun!" Toph took a stance and opened up a smooth passage into the rock. Before Sokka could utter a yelp of protest she had disappeared, a disoriented Momo in tow, not wanting to be left alone. Sokka was aghast.

"What? …y…you can't leave me as the sane one!" Sokka yelled down the hole, "_I can't take the responsibility_!"

"I could help a little…" Kuei advanced, to Sokka's irritation.

"Yeah, what can you do?" Sokka crossed his arms.

"I can rule the largest country in the world," Kuei responded irritably.

"And that turned out swell, didn't it, Your Highness?" Sokka was too distracted to notice the two mountaineers leading a pack of lizard-goats across the plateau, up until they stopped to gasp.

"Look! It's the Avatar's Bison!"

"Get 'im!"

"I saw 'im first!"

The two struggling mountaineers framed Sokka's woes, and the warrior slunkily returned to Appa's back.

* * *

The tunnels swerved, ducked, and even briefly rose at high speed. Aang's stomach was turning into knots while Katara skidded across walls and jumped across rises to keep balance. Truth be told…he was actually starting to enjoy it.

"What do you think of the Big Carp now!?" Katara yelled over the roaring water.

"It's…really…really…we don't have time for this!" Aang yelled in return, sincerely conflicted.

"Hmph, and I thought Sokka was a spoil-sport," Katara huffed at the ingratitude, but her eyes sprang open as an explosion of dust appeared before her. She swerved to avoid it and looked aside to see Toph with her feet planted in the ground, creating a local rock-slide that she used to ride through the tunnel. Katara was elated, but still incredulous, "hey! You can't butt in the middle of a race!"

"Don't worry! I'll give you a handicap!" Toph grinned, bending her knees forward to speed into the distance, looping around the ceiling of the tunnel just for show. Momo was left in her wake screeching in terror, eventually grabbing onto Aang's red cloth and hiding behind his head.

"_You _give _me _a handicap? That's a laugh," Katara felt challenged, and snapped her hand backwards to speed up the water flow. Before her opened up another lit chamber, where the stream curved to the left in a long bend. She saw that Toph was making her own, tighter bend out of the rock below, and Katara knew she had to deal with that, "two can play at that game, you rule-breaking twerp."

Katara trusted Aang to hold on while she raised both her arms, her hands drooped downwards as if flowing behind her limbs like reeds. The stream before them raised up off of its canal, flowing through mid-air. Then she swept her arms to the left to bring the stream crashing into the tunnel Toph was heading into. The surge made the Earthbending girl swerve to avoid the water, giving Katara free reign to crash down the tunnel. She smiled as her control settled down to normal, and held onto Aang again.

Aang's heart beat at a frenetic pace, and thoughts blattered his mind to a pulp. At this moment a realisation came over Aang. A strange moment of tranquillity when time slowed down and he saw every detail of the tunnel around him. He could feel the water brush against his skin and the heat pumping through his body. It was in such a state that Aang made a fateful decision. He couldn't just stand by let these two risk their lives in some attempt to show him a good time!

He was going to join in, damn it!

Aang reached out to grab a brittle branch, snapping it off easily with the Waterbender's unstoppable momentum. Katara heard the snap and looked over in confusion as the fuzzy-haired boy looked over the branch and smiled. She had no time to react as he let go of her body and fell away onto the long, flat length of wood.

"Let's see how good you really are!" Aang challenged Katara, as his feet planted themselves onto the branch and controlled its descent into the rapid water, picking up speed as it went and leaving Katara behind. Momo clung on for dear life, unsure as to whether hiding behind Aang was strictly a good idea anymore.

Katara hadn't intended _this_. She just wanted to show him a fantastic time, not make the boy risk his life on a reckless stunt. Not that she was one to talk, but there was an important difference between the two of them, "but…Aang! You can't bend!"

"So?" Aang quickly answered, and just for effect made a similar loop-the-loop around the tunnel that Toph did, around a narrow section of the tunnel that had formed a whirlpool. Katara stared ahead in shock. She wasn't sure what to make of all this. Except the loop-the-loop…she definitely had an opinion about that.

"That's it, no handicap for _you _my friend," Katara used both her arms, now free, to speed herself along the tunnel.

* * *

Appa flew over the mountains, inside which the three water sliders were now completely invisible. Sokka flew the bison ahead, feeling distinctly put-upon, while Kuei was looking over the side in intense curiosity.

"I just wish I knew what they were up to down there…" the Earth King complained.

"Welcome to the fifth wheel, Your Majesty," Sokka remarked bitterly, "souvenir toys are on the stall."

* * *

Aang may have lost his ability to bend, but he was small, agile and well-balanced. That made riding his makeshift board that much easier, but it still took intense concentration. He could feel every stray branch he scraped, and he always had to look out for the small holes of light that occasionally burst through. More problematic were the frequent openings in the tunnels where the abandoned City of Lieu lay, since sometimes these produced some unfortunate surprises. Such as the decayed water mill that blocked the aqueduct he was travelling across.

"AAAH!" Aang shrieked as he twisted the board to stop himself. Momo dug his feet into Aang's shoulders and quickly shunted the boy out of the water, as Aang grabbed the board beneath him and ran across the narrow ledge that made up the left side of the aqueduct before leaping back onto the water, holding the board beneath himself and letting the current do its work. Aang looked behind himself at the decayed piece of stone-work, no longer moving as it once did. Abruptly, a sliver of water split it in two, and in-between the separated two halves a wild, powerful-looking Katara rode through the gap, deviously intent on overtaking him.

"You're not getting away from _me_!" Katara announced, causing Aang to gasp and concentrate forward on the next section. Another tunnel opened up, but across the opening a waterfall was running from another aqueduct high above. Katara smiled devilishly and prepared to cut Aang off, turning part of the stream ahead of her into ice as she reached out with her arms and legs towards the waterfall. Aang saw the danger, and tried to find something to counter her with. Handily, just such a something was clinging to his shoulders.

"Momo! Katara has food in her head! Go get!" Aang brushed Momo off, and smiled as he concentrated forward. They had nearly reached the waterfall when Katara's mischievous expression turned to surprise as the winged lemur flew straight at her face and wrapped himself around her head. Her ice-shard flew off her feet as she lost concentration and got swept away by the current. Aang burst through the waterfall and immediately swung left down an alternate tunnel to avoid the foaming dead end ahead of him. Katara, soaking wet and splashing impotently, had no choice in the matter.

"Ack…Momo! I…can't…see!" Katara was swept through the waterfall and made a satisfying crash into what Aang subsequently guessed to be a store-room for pottery and other items. He didn't bother going back to check principally because he was so elated that he was still winning. A rumble of rocks and a kick-back of dust announced the arrival of Toph as Aang's competitor, and she appreciated the troubles ahead rather more tactically.

The tunnel here occasionally opened up on the chamber they had just left, letting their ride be punctuated occasionally by light and shadow. Aang was already wondering in the back of his mind whether the people of Lieu did such things as they were doing. Toph had no such concerns, and was concentrating on ways to overtake her opponent. As she was fast catching up to Aang, she didn't notice Momo flying ahead of her until he had slapped himself across her face and covered her eyes. The ineffectualness of Momo's strategy made Toph pause for thought.

"Calling you an idiot would be a waste of time, wouldn't it?" Toph commented, moving herself to go faster through the earth underneath the water, the speed making Momo cling on harder and squeak profusely. As the riders were turning further into the maze of tunnels, Toph hugged the wall higher than the water could reach and overtook Aang, who coughed on the dust left in her wake.

"Still sure you want that handicap, Toph?" Aang called to his opponent jovially. The tunnel was approaching another chamber…no, it wasn't a chamber, it was a chasm, where the water fell down a chute for a precipitous height before sliding up a ramp and across the canyon. Toph directed herself to head down the centre of the ramp, and brought her arms down with her palms up, ready to push the earth ahead of her.

"Watch your 'handicap' disappear, twinkle-toes," Toph brought her arms up with great effort, as what used to be a spout became a bridge, tapering forward from the rock-face to a fine point on the other side where the tunnel reappeared. Toph rode across the gap in fine style, and Momo had finally to let go because of the speed she was travelling at.

Unfazed, Aang looked down the canyon and saw another spout below that seemed even bigger than the one Toph had crossed. It had to be a short-cut. As he descended the ramp, he made an exhilarating jump off the edge and directed himself towards the end of the spout. If he timed it correctly, he'd easily have the lead on Toph, since all the streams had to merge into this one eventually.

Aang could feel thin air below his board, and for a few precious moments felt that he was airborne. The air currents flowed around his arms and whipped his legs as he descended, much more readily than he had when he first dropped that height with Katara. He approached the spout, and spread his arms out, pushing his feet onto his board as the opening appeared, smile beaming across his face, happier than he had ever felt before. For those few moments, he felt he was invincible.

Then he missed the tunnel.

The opening dropping away before his eyes filled him with a momentary confusion. With little time to reason what had gone wrong, he reached out his fingers to grab onto the rock. He just managed to cling to a hard, jagged edge just below the opening, but without any means of stopping himself he yelped as he thwacked himself face-first into the rock.

"Oof…" Aang muttered, getting a foothold on the rock-face. He shook himself aware and felt his forehead. There was a nasty, stinging cut, but nothing too serious. He looked up to see the spout flying over his head and he wondered what it was he did wrong. Then he realised…he had tried to Airbend into the tunnel. He smirked, giggled, and then burst out into uncontrollable laughter, wiping a tear from his eye with his free hand, "ha ha…hoo yeah. I forgot about that…"

"Need a hand!?" Katara's familiar voice sounded out overhead, and Aang noticed the spout had changed shape, leading down from the tunnel above. He reached out his hand and felt it being grabbed by the warm, if wet, palm of his Waterbending master. Aang was pulled up as Katara passed by, and she placed an arm around him. She looked at him with some concern, but then couldn't help but giggle, "no point telling you to use your head."

Aang laughed along as they disappeared into the tunnel. Momo flew after them, having given up trying to ride with the masochistic crazies.

* * *

Sokka grumbled to himself as he rode Appa down further into the mountains, at least trying to find the exit point of this maze. Kuei was keeping himself occupied with counting out the nuts. He sighed to himself as he picked some out.

"These were Bosco's favourite nuts…" the Earth King reminisced. At that moment a wonderful idea struck him that he had to share with the Water Tribe warrior, "oh! Oh! Warrior Sokka, do you think the Avatar's bison would like these nuts?"

"Not while he's flying! Sheesh!" Sokka shot down the suggestion with a tug on Appa's reins.

* * *

Katara's ice shard refracted the sudden shifts of light and dark as they flew through the openings of the City of Lieu, through many centuries of walls and passages, formed around the streams. The place was alive again, and Aang could feel it acutely.

The stream split off into tributaries, and Katara headed down the fastest one with Aang clinging on, laughing his head off as Katara leapt over a fallen statue to get to it. They were back inside another tunnel, and they felt that they had left Toph far behind. This was of course mistaken as right at that moment just in front of the two of them a burst of dust intruded and Katara looped over the bump in the tunnel left by Toph's entrance. Toph herself was laughing viciously.

"Shortcuts mean _nothing _to me, slowpokes!" Toph said excitedly, apparently forgetting all about her 'handicap', much to the annoyance of Katara. Aang felt like he needed to egg her on.

"Come on, we'll get her at the next inter-section!" Aang pointed forward and Katara smiled in recognition, skipping a hand behind her to speed up. Sure enough around the next corner was a bright opening where the next chamber had to be. It was lighter than usual, but if they could reach it they had a chance of overtaking Toph. The Earthbending girl seemed to recognise this as shortly after she disappeared into the opening the tunnel was blackened as the light ahead vanished.

"So she thinks she can trap us in here, the cheat!?" Katara blurted angrily, swerving her arm upwards behind her and pushing it forward to bring the water she was riding behind forwards towards the blocked opening. The water burst open the sealed rock and they rode in its wake. Katara was determinedly out for blood as they sped through the opening and abruptly found themselves looking out upon clear blue sky.

They only realised their predicament soon enough to scream their heads off as Aang and Katara felt the air beneath them give way. Before they could fall, however, they found themselves flat on the back of a long slab of rock that jutted out of the cliff face behind them. The cliff was massive, and up and down it were littered small waterfalls as the water tunnels of the City of Lieu finally came to an end. Toph herself was magnetised to the cliff next to the opening, looking at the both of them with a cocked eyebrow.

"You try doing someone a favour and they go and mess it all up themselves," Toph commented as Momo flew out of the opening and made a series of barrel rolls, glad to be in the open air again. Aang and Katara broke out in apologetically nervous laughter, interrupted by the shadow of Appa flying overhead. Appa came to a rest beside the pillar with Sokka at the reins.

Sokka glared at all of them, making it clear from the outset that he was very _profoundly _annoyed.

* * *

The group had only just planted themselves on Appa's back when Sokka, who was busy fuming on Appa's head, turned back to his sister, arguing, "of all the stupid, irresponsible, half-witted, gummy-brained, moronic things you could do, Katara! What got into you!?"

"I just wanted to make Aang feel better," Katara defended herself. Aang himself was pooped, recovering himself near the back of Appa.

"Well, then pardon me! I didn't realise being splattered against the rocks would have such excellent medicinal properties!" Sokka floundered at the air in anger, "who am I to talk? You're the _healer _after all!"

"We've been on edge for the last two weeks, we needed this!" Katara argued, "we can't go on being so…_glum_ all the time! You should have seen Aang, Sokka! He looked like he was…alive again."

"Sure, and the blood on his forehead is just his worries _relieving _themselves!" Sokka turned back to his sister, "you can't take those kinds of risks by yourself! I won't allow it!"

"What about me? Can _I _take those risks by myself?" Toph asked hopefully.

"You stay out of this, you turncoat!" Sokka jabbed a finger at the girl, leading the blind girl to somehow, through some means, make a really mean stare back.

"I know you meant well, but Warrior Sokka does have a point," Kuei decided to mediate between the two…the kind of thing kings are meant to do, "for the sake of the world, the Avatar can't be put in too much danger. He isn't yet recovered."

"I know that! I know that better than any of you!" Katara accused, as Aang had in the meantime recovered from his exertions and was sneaking, tremulously, towards the group. Katara continued, "but he needs more than just training and being kept safe! He needs…he needs to be what this _world _needs! He needs to have that special something that made him the Aang we knew! Oh…ech…it's hard to explain…"

"Then _try_," Sokka pronounced with extreme scepticism, "explain to us why throwing Aang into some suicidal attempt to have some fun is so _beneficial _to him?"

"HEY! CAN WE DO THAT AGAIN!?" Aang shrieked into everyone's ears, apparently too excited to pay much attention to the conversation. Katara was as surprised as the rest of them, but smiled triumphantly at Sokka as they all registered what this meant…the old Aang was very officially alive. For now. Sokka looked Katara in the eye, knowing he had been thoroughly trumped.

"Okay, that's enough excitement for today. We still got a long journey ahead of us," Sokka turned back towards Appa's front and whipped the reins, "yip, yip."

The City of Lieu was left behind, and the group made their last journey on Appa for some time. But a little spark of the Air Nomads had been relit in those caves.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	11. Spheres Of Influence

This small corner of the Fire Lord's Palace, tucked away between the audience chambers and the bed chambers, had no effective use. It was a section of vaulted corridor, criss-crossed with pillars, that didn't actually lead to anything. It was a flaw in the Palace's design, a consequence of the vast dimensions of the place and not enough useless stuff to fill it with. It was a happy flaw, however, as the dark and dreary dead-end turned into something of a clandestine meeting place for ministers plotting secret deals behind the Fire Lord's back. It had gained the suitable nickname of 'Traitors' Corner', and was a very appropriate place for the meeting Azula had informally convened.

Azula had found Mai and Ty Lee skulking around the door to the throne room, and persuaded them to come along as company. She wasn't entirely sure what the two of them were still doing around the Palace (she strongly suspected Mai's crush had something to do with it, and almost as strongly suspected the only reason Ty Lee was around was because she was such a sucker for tragic romances), but it was useful to provide insurance against anything dumb Long Feng may have concocted. She needn't worry with the numerically superior number of Dai Li occupying the shadows of Traitors' Corner, but she didn't survive the Fire Nation rat race for this long by acting stupid. With the Dai Li surrounding the place, the corner had been transformed into a small pocket of the Earth Kingdom inside the Fire Lord's Palace…another appropriate symbol.

"Okay, Long Feng, what's this thing that's so important?" Azula proceeded straight to the point, hands on hips, looking authoritative without any appreciable effort towards that end.

Long Feng couldn't help but admire how much control Azula had over herself, so that she put on airs only when strictly necessary. She didn't need to do so here, since she'd already proven herself capable to the Dai Li, and displayed such profound confidence in her safety amongst these Earthbenders that it took his breath away at times. But in two weeks of getting to know her it was gratifying to find at least one chink in her armour, "Three things, actually, My Scorched Earth Que-"

"_Never_…call me that ever again, Long Feng," Azula commanded, and she meant it as well, "Our daily meeting is at three 'o clock, so whatever you have to discuss must be _very _important to interrupt a War Council."

"If you would prefer me not to do so in the future…" Long Feng began.

"On the contrary, you should do it more often," Azula looked Long Feng straight in the eyes, "I simply expected you to be more _discreet_. For a head of a secret police force you're damned clumsy. You must inform me of all developments as soon as they occur, is that clear?"

"Crystal, Your Highness," Long Feng confirmed, to the rapturous reception of Ty Lee.

"Wow! It's like you're a real ruler!" Ty Lee squealed and squeezed her hands tight in excitement, prompting Mai, leaning against a pillar near to where Ty Lee was watching the proceedings, to stretch out the scroll that she was reading and clonk Ty Lee over the head with it. With the interruption over with, to which Long Feng couldn't help but notice Azula paid no attention whatsoever, the Grand Secretary unrolled the first scroll and summarised.

"The first matter regards the fiscal reforms you put in place," Long Feng informed, "we have run into some opposition implementing the new taxes."

"What are you talking about?" Azula asked, "they're _less _than the old taxes."

"Yes, but some members of the nobility have come to expect certain…perks regarding the collection of tariffs…"

"You can't expect to run a modern state with an antiquated tax system," Azula lectured, "who are these 'members of the nobility'?"

"Mostly major landholders south of the Shi-Wong Desert," Long Feng elaborated, "they've grown accustomed to being outside Ba Sing Se's authority."

"Then gather them together and _remind _them of their patriotic duty," Azula ordered, "opposition will not be tolerated. The Earth Kingdom is going to be dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world whether some aging molasses like it or not."

Long Feng was used to the concept of changing the people to fit the system. Without a system, with all the accompanying rituals, conventions and arbitrary decisions that no one felt inclined to rescind, there was little to anchor the state around. Azula's iconoclastic determination to sweep it all away struck Long Feng as destructive and dangerous, but then he'd come to realise Azula had that effect on pretty much everyone. It was her purity that scared people, and inspired them. Long Feng hoped the effect was communicable because he did not want to face a mob of angry aristocrats in a small room. Not that he had a choice.

"Which brings me to the second issue that has arisen," Long Feng unfurled the second scroll, "the new railroad project is running behind schedule. Apparently many of the manufactured materials haven't arrived yet."

"A shipment should have arrived at the port of Ch'ufou three days ago," Azula commented.

"Two days ago actually, since the increase in attacks in the Mo Ce Sea has upset more than a few timetables, but it's stuck in customs," Long Feng continued, "many of the cargo-handlers in the docks still don't trust Fire Nation manufacturing…"

"Then _enlighten _them," Azula responded testily.

"Already being done," Long Feng remarked proudly, "I'm just here to inform that the construction of the railroad is behind schedule."

"Don't just _inform_ me. Do something about it. Draft in extra workers if you have to," Azula requested, "I presume the third matter is the _really important_ one that demanded all this urgency."

"Absolutely, Your Highness. Now…" Long Feng began.

"For future reference, if you have something important, skip the build-up. This is governance, not street theatre," Azula interrupted, "and since this is some _really, incredibly important _thing, let me make a random guess. It's about the Avatar, him and his group were briefly trapped but escaped from our clutches, and we have learnt some vitally important news about his status, health, destination, whatever…"

Long Feng wasn't about to question how Azula could possibly have known that, but he still found himself a little flummoxed that his carefully orchestrated ministerial routine was being thrown out the window. He coughed a little and read aloud, "yes, the Avatar's companions were captured in the North-East by forces under the command of General Hu."

Azula grabbed the scroll and looked at it herself, poring over some of the details before looking back up, "General who?"

A snort and a snigger erupted behind Azula as Ty Lee attempted to control her spontaneous laughter before Mai's scroll came down on her head, "haha…'General Hu'…ow!"

"They did escape, and reportedly are heading west," Long Feng continued, "reports on how they escaped haven't yet been fully documented. Apparently the General is currently…incapacitated."

"A Major Gin Hong was in charge of the capture operation," Azula read from the report.

"Yes, he is in temporary command of Hu's forces while they continue the pursuit…"

"Promote him to General. I like the sound of him," Azula looked over the Major's handiwork with approval.

"And what should we do with General Hu?"

"I'll leave that to your _excellent_ imagination," Azula handed the scroll back to Long Feng.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Ty Lee held up a hand, "is the Water Tribe boy alright?"

Long Feng cocked an eyebrow and looked over the report for news on Sokka. Eventually he had to look back up at the pink-coloured girl and shrug. Ty Lee descended into a pout, interrupted by yet another bonk from Mai's scroll. Azula still had questions, "and the Avatar himself?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Long Feng pulled out a slip of parchment, separate from the rest of the scrolls, "it's by far the most interesting news, actually…"

"He's dead, isn't he?" Azula asked.

The certainty with which this statement was expressed made Azula's companions take notice. The Avatar was considered the avowed, ancient enemy of the Fire Nation for all their lives, and now…he was dead? Was that even possible? Long Feng could take the second-guessing before but this was the limit. He was starting to feel superfluous, and expressed as such, "how did you know?"

"You mentioned 'the Avatar's companions' but not the Avatar himself. They wouldn't head off across half the continent without him," Azula explained, "he hasn't been seen since he fled the Old City. The Bison, sure, lots of people have seen that around, but last we heard of the boy himself was as a smouldering wreck. Just put two and two together. But you seem to have a little more than that…"

Azula pulled the slip of parchment from Long Feng's fingers and studied it, eyeing it over carefully to let every single detail sink in. It confirmed everything she hoped, and a smile stretched across her face as soon as she began scanning the first sentence. This was it, the final proof that the Avatar was dead, forever, and she was the one who killed him. Another hurdle had been overcome, another bump on the road eased over, her self having erased another blockage. She was a step closer to the only thing she strived for, the only thing she cared about. As a courtesy, she kept the parchment in her pocket.

"That is everything for today, Your Highness," Long Feng sensed that the meeting was over, and bowed slightly in formal respect, "I will bring further news as soon as it arrives…"

"Wait, I'm not finished with you, yet," Azula indicated, "there is a problem in the North-West I need taken care of. Some subjects of the Earth Kingdom are taking it upon themselves to attack Fire Nation colonies, and using _my _territory as a staging post. I want these guerrillas routed out as efficiently as possible."

"Of course, Your Highness," Long Feng acknowledged, "I shall make preparations right away."

"This could be a job for our new General Gin Hong," Azula suggested, "work hard on converting people to our cause, and deal _harshly _with any trouble-makers. I want this New Order to be _seamless_, understand?"

"It will be done, Your Highness," Long Feng bowed once again, and made his leave, taking a few of the Dai Li with him. Azula stayed behind, taking the parchment out of her pocket to contemplate it again.

"Girls, it looks like I don't know my own strength," Azula addressed Mai and Ty Lee. The acrobat fidgeted while the knife-wielder didn't budge from reading her scroll, which seemed to be some ancient tragic romance of some description, and to which Mai didn't indicate the least emotional investment. The Dai Li remained guarding their ruler.

"So the Avatar's really dead?" Ty Lee asked in wonderment. It didn't seem possible. The Avatar haunted the imagination of the people of the Fire Nation for generations. And yet he was mortal...

"He died back in the Old City. 'Instantly', it says here," Azula read, "the group on the bison may be trying to link up with others to continue the fight, whatever good that does them. With the Avatar dead, there's nothing left to stop us before Sozin's Comet arrives. The Eclipse won't mean a thing. Still, it would be a good idea to track down his friends. General Gin Hong seems the right man for the job."

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but won't the kid just be reborn into the next cycle?" Mai observed, not taking her eyes off of the scroll.

"That's the best part," Azula put the parchment away, "I struck him while he was channelling the Avatar Spirit. I've heard some interesting things about the Avatar when he does this, including that the Avatar Cycle ceases if he is struck in such a state. That means no more Avatar. Forever."

The statement ended the conversation as it was, and Azula breathed in deeply at the intoxicating words. The Avatar was a messy creature, a thing reborn over so many generations in so many different ways to keep the world the pathetic, divided state that it was. Now it was dead, there was nothing to keep the world that way. The creases would be ironed out, and the rough surfaces made smooth. The world would be made as pure as she was.

"This will be an excellent start to the festivities tonight," Azula commented, walking back out of Traitors' Corner, prompting the Dai Li to follow. Ty Lee tip-toed past Mai, who had looked up to watch Azula leave.

"Come on, Mai! You can wait outside the throne room for Zuko some more!" Ty Lee teased. The gleeful, ecstatic face crowding Mai's vision irritated her enough to bunch the scroll in one hand, hold it behind her head and fling it like she did one of her knives, impacting fiercely on Ty Lee's sensitive nose, causing the acrobat to reel back, cover her nose and screw her eyes shut as hard as she could, muttering "…oooooooowwwwwwwww…"

"I wasn't waiting for _Zuko_, I was waiting to give this stupid message to Azula," Mai produced a small slip of parchment out of her folds of clothing and held it in-between two of her fingers. Azula, hearing Mai's exclamation, stopped in her tracks and looked back at the slip in Mai's hand, figuring out instantly what it was. She waved the Dai Li ahead of her and returned to the two girls.

"When were planning on mentioning this, Mai?" Azula plucked the message out of Mai's fingers but felt like scolding the un-scoldable depressive first.

"I don't know. When I felt like it," Mai answered condescendingly, as Ty Lee continued rubbing her sore nose. Mai elaborated, "some geriatric from Pingfang Bay sent it to you. Sent one of his guys who ran into Ty Lee and I and took us for your courier service."

Azula groaned at one of the threads in her elaborate tapestry of planning snapping, bringing her fingers to her forehead, "the senile idiot was supposed to…" The Fire Princess composed herself, cogs repositioning themselves, "you've both seen the note, haven't you?"

"Yup," the both of them chimed, Ty Lee cheerfully, Mai gloomily.

"You haven't told anyone else?" Azula interrogated.

"Nope," they both announced.

"And neither of you _intend _to tell anyone else?" Azula insisted.

"Nope," they confirmed, to the satisfaction of the Earth Queen.

"Good," Princess Azula smiled, "I really don't want to have to get rid of two of my best assets. If anyone asks, the only thing you've heard of Pingfang Bay is that no one has heard of Pingfang Bay. Understand?"

Mai and Ty Lee both nodded. Fellow conspirators in Traitor's Corner.

* * *

Appa rose above the clouds on approach to the Northern Air Temple. There was no need for coats or boots this gentle summer day, despite how far north they were and the long shadows across the mountains signifying early evening. The turrets of the temple before them shone in the low, red sun, and small tendrils of smoke could be seen amongst the tiny flying wings they could see in the distance. It was gratifying that after such a long distance over hostile territory they could stay at a place that was still familiar. As Appa drew closer, the group overtook the cloud they had been travelling over, and were unduly surprised to see a massive contraption burst out of the cloud beneath them.

They all looked over to see what it was, a large green spindly wing that stretched twice as long from side-to-side as Appa did, and moved incredibly quickly, with the wings seemingly changing size to speed up and slow down. It made a barrel roll around Appa and the group nearly fell backwards trying to keep up with looking at it. Eventually the glider righted itself to something approximating eye level, and beneath the wing the group saw a welcomingly familiar face.

"Teo!" Katara cried out over the sound of the wind, as Sokka had cautiously sped Appa up to keep up with the glider. Teo smiled at the group and gave a playful salute before speeding up, taking position ahead of Appa. Around the flying bison four more gliders of approximately the same design appeared, this time with grey wings rather than Teo's distinctive green. They positioned themselves around Appa in the shape of a five-pointed-star.

"Nice! Someone giving us an escort for once!" Sokka smiled at the display. He liked being feted. As the Air Temple drew near the gliders hung right, giving Appa a clear approach to land on one of the platforms. The flying bison duly did with a grunt, and Katara, Sokka and Aang jumped off to secure their parking spot. They were concentrating hard enough on this effort that they didn't notice the two young men approaching them from the other side of the platform.

"Look! It's the Avatar's bison!" one of the men pointed out. The three of them froze in terror and looked expectantly at the two men, staring in curiosity at the animal before them.

"……cool!" the other man expressed.

"I saw 'im first…" the first man bragged, pointing to himself as he smiled at the second. The group heaved a sigh of relief, and Sokka turned to Toph, who was still descending from Appa.

"So, what do you think of this place so far?" Sokka asked the blind girl. Toph herself was feeling severely put-upon since she'd blatantly missed out on the display out there.

"I don't think _anything _of this place so far. I haven't seen a bit of it ye-…woooaaaah…" Toph paused as her feet met the ground. She knelt down to feel the earth beneath her toes, "okay, consider me impressed…"

"It's extraordinary…" Kuei still sat atop Appa, unable to keep his eyes off of his surroundings, "I never thought such things were possible…"

"Just goes to show _anything's _possible, Your Majesty," Sokka lent the Earth King a hand to bring him down from his mystified stupor.

"Glad to see some positive thinking from you again," Katara crossed her arms and chuckled at Sokka's reverie.

"Hey, we got here in one piece…no thanks to you…and there's no one about to throw us in the clink," Sokka smiled and shrugged, leading the Earth King down to the ground, "in my estimation, that's grounds for optimism."

The five of them were interrupted in their relief by an approaching figure, very recognizable in his white apron and increasingly erratic hairstyle (a tuft above his left ear appeared to have been sawn off), and the relief on his dotted-eyebrowed face was much more profound than the relief the group was feeling. The Mechanist held out his hands in greeting, "welcome! Welcome! I'm glad you're safe! We've heard the most terrible rumours about you!"

"Ah, we're okay…mostly…it's good to see you're okay, too," Sokka greeted, "what with the fall of the Earth Kingdom and everything, we weren't sure you were safe…"

"Oh we're fine! You don't need to worry about us!" the Mechanist waved away Sokka's concerns, "this place is well-protected, especially with the new glider designs."

"Oh hey! I noticed them!" Sokka looked out over the couple of modified gliders circling overhead, "I could see the adjustable wing-span. Wide makes it more manoeuvrable, while long makes it faster. I like it!"

"Well with you here we're twice as safe already!" the Mechanist complemented, to the collective groan of everyone who wasn't Sokka, "but what about the Avatar? I don't see him with you…"

"Oh!" Katara exclaimed, and fretfully stepped aside to reveal the small, red-clothed, fuzzy-haired young boy of the group, who smiled and waved nervously. The Mechanist found himself confused…and that confusion didn't seem to lift despite his best efforts at understanding exactly what this young bare-footed boy had to do with the Avatar. Katara, recognising as such, decided make things skull-crushingly clear for the befuddled inventor, "this is Aang…"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't recognise you…" realisation washed over the Mechanist, and he leaned over and fiddled with his monocle, "um…interesting new look…"

"Aang!" called a pleasing voice from behind the Mechanist, who turned to see a grinning Teo wheel quickly towards the group in excitement. Aang was excited in turn.

"Teo! It's good to see you!" Aang called back to the approaching boy in a green jacket and goggles, who skidded his wheelchair to a halt just short of him, looking a little perturbed at the strange boy who answered his call, only for a smile to burst across the glider pilot's face, and it was only a split second before he was laughing profusely.

"That you!? You sure changed in the last few months!" Teo laughed, "good to see you're okay! It's gonna be tons of fun flying together again!"

Aang's face fell at Teo's enthusiasm, and the boy held onto his right arm behind his back, a little ashamed, "uh…yeah. About that…"

Teo's joyful face gave way to confusion, and he looked up to the others for an explanation, given by Katara in short order, "Aang was…injured back at Ba Sing Se. Right now he can't bend anything except fire, and if he learns to do that, then he'll be back to his full powers again."

"But first we need somewhere to keep the Earth King and our bison safe," Sokka proceeded to the point of their visit, "it will be too dangerous for them while we try to sneak into Fire Nation territory. I know it's a bit short notice, and we don't want to burden you too much, but…"

"You don't even need to ask, Sokka," the Mechanist interrupted, "it's the least we can do for the people who saved our home. We would be honoured to help."

"Thank you," Aang bowed to the Mechanist, "I don't know how long it will take to find a firebending teacher, but we won't burden you a minute longer than necessary."

"It's honestly not a problem…" the Mechanist began, before suddenly recognising something Sokka said earlier, "wait a moment, did you say _the Earth King_?"

"The one and only," Toph chimed in while the others started from the force of the question, "don't worry, all he needs is frequent walks, a nice, comfy bed and those _really tasty nuts_. He'll be no trouble at all."

Toph stepped aside to make Kuei more noticeable, but he was still too distracted by the sights of the Air Temple to notice the attention. An urgent cough from Sokka caught Kuei's attention, and he momentarily freaked before composing himself, "we are pleased to make your acquaintance, honoured keeper of the Air Temple. By the Mandate of the Earth I pledge whatever support I may furnish to ensure the safety and prosperity of your home…"

"Not that he has any at the moment, but the thought is there…" Toph grinned from her own little act of blasphemy.

"Toph! What did we tell you about teasing absolute monarchs!?" Sokka blurted. Toph just kept grinning. Aang, in the meantime, had stepped forward closer to Teo, who had remained silent in listening to the exchange and was still digesting what it meant. Aang felt Teo deserved better than that.

"Teo, there's something really important I need to talk to you about," Aang said solemnly in a low voice, "is there anywhere private we can meet up?"

"Sure. There's a small chamber at the foot of the Temple that we only ever use for storage," Teo looked down the side of the Temple in recognition before looking back up at Aang, "but what is it that's so important?"

"I'm not sure myself, but it may be more important than anything we do in the present," Aang added cryptically. Teo was intrigued, but concerned at the same time. The boy seemed a little less alive than the last time he saw him.

The group, bison and all, was led inside the Temple to recuperate and share their stories. The second leg of their journey had ended in a place more comforting and hospitable, but if anything their uncertainties were growing, and none of them were sure as to what the future held. The gliders circling around the Temple kept their vigilant watch.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	12. Samsara

The sun was slowly setting over the horizon of the Fire Nation. A restless crowd was assembled in the city's main square, beneath a balcony that jutted out of one side of the Fire Lord's palace. The red-painted balcony had two levels, the bottom one long and connected to the ground below with stairways curving either side of it, the top one smaller and more isolated, where the Fire Lord was to reveal himself. The long balcony was laid out for a feast, the long, low table freshly polished, as steaming pots lay covered and bowls were set out empty, their enamelled chopsticks laid out in decreasing sizes the further away they went. Long Feng appeared to be the only one conscientious enough to bring a napkin, which should have told him something about the nature of the feast they were about to enjoy.

He knelt to the left of Azula, who shared the centre of the balcony with Zuko. Azula waited patiently in silence, seemingly counting down the minutes in her head, while Zuko sat in his near-perpetual funk. The Grand Secretary wondered if the boy had any mode of expression besides intense annoyance. He noticed that the other generals, ministers and nobles had lost interest in him. Good for him, Long Feng thought.

Zuko felt no such relief. He hadn't been accepted as 'part of the fold' by any stretch of the imagination, but the lack of attention paid to him was if anything even worse than constant suspicion. It made him feel like a nobody, the exact opposite of what he wanted to achieve by coming back here. His father's love was a myth, his recognition as a dutiful son and loyal soldier a fantasy. He hadn't felt the slightest shred of love in all his time here. All he felt was a claustrophobic, suffocating sense of paranoia. But there was nothing else now. This was all there was. He had made his decision, passed the point of no return, and this was the consequence. A life as empty and meaningless as that his uncle had promised. Maybe he just wasn't meant to have happiness.

To add insult to injury some bright spark in charge of the table arrangements had placed Mai on the spot of carpet to the right of him, with Ty Lee right next to her. He was aware of the crush Mai had on him for a long time now, and he honestly didn't know what to make of it. He didn't really feel anything for the dour, depressing girl, and was thankful enough that Mai didn't go out of her way to pursue it. But he was beginning to suppose that since his exile had come to an abrupt end, and with his experiences of Song, Jin and…behind him, maybe he should try to be a little more accommodating towards…well…girls. Maybe there was a seed of some beautiful lotus blossom ready to burst out from underneath that dark, weedy exterior?

Oh Agni, he was starting to sound like his uncle. The last person he wanted to be reminded of right now.

"Go on! He's right there! Go on!" Ty Lee whispered as she nudged Mai in Zuko's direction. He could overhear the acrobat's encouragements and Mai's hasty put-downs, and for the first time in ages it actually made him smile. But he noticed it getting noticeably darker, as the sun disappeared over the rooftops. Along the edges of the square, stalls for various sweets, masks and paraphernalia lined the crowd, swirling around an empty square in the centre where the dancers were preparing. In some corners sparklers had already been lit and waved around by little hands. The setting of the sun was the sign that festivities were about to start, and Azula stood up from the carpet beneath the low table, towering over the rest of the kneeling guests depite her small stature, knowing instinctively the right moment to start. Zuko pondered, how come she never needed notes?

"People of the Fire Nation!" Azula's voice carried far and wide, "tonight marks the First Night of Summer, the season when our might is at its peak! But for this day, this summer, we bear witness to the most momentous event in our history! This day marks the greatest victory we could ever foresee! The long war with the Earth Kingdom is over, and enemies and traitors to our Nation are being vanquished as we speak! But I can tell you now, without a shadow of doubt, that the greatest enemy of all, our nemesis, our eternal opponent and villain of everything that is good and pure about our people, has been eliminated!"

Azula left a pause to keep the suspense, and Zuko was rapt with attention. She could mean only one person. She closed her eyes and stretched her arms to emphasize the statement.

"The Avatar is dead!"

A collective gasp escaped the crowd, and everyone at the table took notice as well. There was final proof, final confirmation, that the Avatar was no longer alive. And here, in the central square of the Fire Nation capital, the sky darkening as it readied for the dawn of the new age of Fire, it was announced. The news would spread across the world, and their enemies would lose their last champion. Zuko felt horrified.

"I slew him with my own hands!" Azula continued, opening her eyes once again, "the enemy was channelling his powers when I struck the final blow, in a battle that was desperate and merciless for both me and my brother! But together we were victorious over the vile defender of the corrupt and pitiful! The Avatar has been slain, and all the Avatars before and after have been vanquished along with him! No longer will the sons and daughters of Fire be hobbled and chained by the whims of fate! I and my brother have challenged fate itself, and together we, the people of Agni, can remake fate anew!"

Azula dropped down her hands before she continued, in a lower but still audible voice. An intimate voice with the people of the Fire Nation, "we still have many trials ahead of us! Our enemies are not yet completely defeated, and will stop at nothing to snuff us out! But we have risen to the challenge as only a mighty flame can rise, and as long as we remain strong and determined to make this world greater with the purity of our flame, we can conquer the gods themselves! If two can come together to defeat the Avatar, imagine what we all together could achieve! This great effort will take all our energies, but that is for tomorrow! For tonight, we mark a great day! A glorious day for our people! By Agni may we burn the sky with the power of our joy!"

Azula finished with a flourish and the crowd went wild…again. Azula had an uncanny ability to move a crowd with the strength of her personality, to change herself at whim. But her role for tonight was effectively over, as on the balcony above them a massive flame ignited, illuminating the dark figure of the Fire Lord, watching over the crowd like a divine entity. Long Feng noticed that Ozai seemed to place Azula in all the public-speaking jobs. Nevertheless, his voice may have been heard across the city if he was so inclined.

"By the setting of the sun, we claim this night in the name of Agni," the Fire Lord intoned, "the summer begins! Let us rejoice!"

The crowd cheered together as the Fire Lord's word signalled huge numbers of fireworks to be launched all around the square. The approaching night was turned into day with the blast of the rockets, and the spirit of the Fire Nation came alive together. The music began, the pots were revealed, and everyone tucked into the celebrations with aplomb. Everyone, obviously, except Zuko.

The Fire Prince had abruptly lost his appetite. He thought back to that moment that Aang died, now he knew it as Aang's death. He remembered the flask Katara had shown him, and the fingers on his scar. He saw the Avatar rise up in her embrace, ascending like a heavenly visitation. He saw her tears, vivid as the day it happened, and the power that flowed behind them. He saw the Avatar rising, enacting his divine mission. He saw him falling, a small, fragile figure. He saw Katara, holding him in her arms. He knew she wouldn't have let him die, not her. He knew she had the power to bring him back. He knew he couldn't be dead.

_The Avatar couldn't be dead_.

* * *

In the depths of the Northern Air Temple lay a room that, back in Aang's time, was only lit once a day at noon, when light streamed down an opening far above and illuminated the small, quiet place. It was a place of repentance, where confessional monks resided while they contemplated their mistakes. It was a dark, enclosed place where one could be alone with their thoughts, but once a day the kind-faced statues that lined the walls emerged from the gloom and looked upon the confessing monk, and all was forgiven. Aang never spent any time in this room, or its equivalent in the Southern Air Temple, but he had heard of it from certain neurotic friends of his. Of course they were all dead now, with no more sins to confess, so it was probably better that the place now had torches and was filled around the corners with large sacks of rice. He had realised that he was feeling rather peckish, and there was a lot of fruit nearby.

"Forgive me for I have sinned by taking a bite from this most delicious pear that is not my own…" Aang sat cross-legged in the middle of the room and held out his hands, one of which held a half-eaten pear. He turned and smiled at Teo, who had burst out laughing.

"I was worrying for a moment that you'd lost your sense of humour," Teo remarked warmly.

"Oh no, it's very serious," Aang remarked not very seriously, turning forward and meditating again, "forgive me for I have sinned by doodling stick figures on the walls and not brushing after every meal."

"I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that," Teo pointed to the statues around the room, "they must have been getting worried with only you to represent their reputation."

Aang looked at the statues, representing famous monks and nuns of bygone times, many of them founders of the Temples, smiling nostalgically before turning his eyes down worryingly, turning back to Teo, "actually…that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh…sorry, I…" Teo stumbled over his words.

"No, it's not that…it was pretty funny, actually," Aang smiled weakly, "I mean about…what's happened to me. And with that what's happened to the Airbenders."

"I…Aang, I don't understand," Teo looked concerned, "I mean you already explained about the clothes and the hairstyle. We might have some…spare shaving kits kicking about, I guess, but all the clothes have long since degraded."

"It's not just that," Aang looked down, "that's part of it, but not all. I was the last of the Airbenders, the last memory of an entire race of people. Now look at me! I'm not even that."

"I know you can't bend air anymore, but that's temporary, isn't it?" Teo gesticulated, "you're still an Airbender…you may not look it, but it's all about what you're like deep down, isn't it?"

"Listen, the Last Airbender died in the Old City of Ba Sing Se," Aang threw the chair-bound boy a surprise, and stood up to emphasise this, "all the Air Nomads are dead now. Every last one of them…and that leaves you."

"Me? …us?" Teo drew back, confused, "what do you mean? We're not Airbenders, we're Earth Kingdom refugees. We don't have benders of any kind, let alone ones that have been extinct for a hundred years…uh, no offence meant."

"No, that's just it," Aang's smile seemed to reappear, as he looked at the statues around him, "you came to this temple and your first thought was to find out how to fly. You have the spirit of the Airbenders all around you here, and you're getting better at flying all the time."

"Maybe, but strapping together some cloth and running into the wind doesn't make us Air Nomads," Teo argued, "don't you need to…you know…be born an Airbender first? We were all born elsewhere, in the Earth Kingdom, to Earth Kingdom parents, and staying up here doesn't change anything about that."

Aang was quieter and more contemplative about what he said next, placing a hand on the statue nearest to him, "I keep thinking about something someone said to me once. 'Separation is an illusion. Everything is connected.' Think about it, streams of water create channels in the earth. The earth crushes together and fire bursts out. Fire needs air to burn. Grass takes moisture from the soil, and worms come to inhabit it, and a bird, a warm-blooded creature, swoops down from the air to take the worm back to feed her young. It goes on forever and we're all a part of it. We _emerged _from it. We had to discover our bending abilities by ourselves, learning from bison and the moon and badger-moles and…whatever the heck thing makes fire. Dragons, probably. And the most important part is that it's a process that…_never_…_stops_."

"That's…great…" Teo wasn't sure how to comment, "but what has that got to do with the Northern Air Temple?"

"Everything," Aang leant back on the statue, "you're learning things as you go. It's a process that may take decades, maybe even centuries, but if the world is going to regain its balance, it needs air. And you're the only ones who can do it."

"That's a bit much to expect from us," Teo said sceptically, "how are we supposed to know this thing when we see it? We're busy as it is trying to make sure the Fire Nation never finds its way up here and now you expect us to recreate the Airbenders decades down the line?"

"I never said it would be easy," Aang looked ashamed at asking Teo this, "I'm just saying it has to be done."

Teo felt ashamed himself for trying to duck out of this responsibility, to the Avatar of all people, but the gloomy mood that had descended wasn't helping matters. Why was Aang so dour all of a sudden, "hey…Aang. You sound like you're leaving forever or something. I mean, how long would it take for you to find this Firebending Master anyway? A few days, maybe?"

"The last time I thought something would take only a few days it ended up lasting a hundred years," Aang left the statue behind and walked back to the centre of the room, "I just can't shake the feeling that…I'm not coming back."

"That's no way to think! Come on!" Teo admonished, "you're here tonight and we're going to have the best time we can. _Never mind _about all these worries. You need them like you need a hole in the head."

"I don't need the hole in my back either," Aang felt his back in demonstration, "but it's incredibly persistent."

"It's just a scar. It's just some small limitation on your daily well-being," Teo smiled at the momentum of his own wisdom, "I mean look at me! I can't use my _legs_, but I don't let that stop me because I know the only thing I need to live a good life is me, and damn if it isn't fun while it lasts."

Aang smiled back, his spirits lifted through the opening in the roof, "you really are an Airbender."

"Thanks for the complement, now let's head back up," Teo wheeled towards the exit, "I think those pears went off as we were talking."

"Fine by me," Aang walked alongside, bare feet pattering beside the rumble of Teo's wheels, "hey, is that bath-house built yet?"

"Yep!" Teo announced triumphantly, "up, running, and steaming away 24-7."

"Good, I've been needing a wash ever since I died," Aang muttered as the two of them left through the doorway, "rigor mortis can get pretty smelly at times."

Their laughs echoed down the corridor as the torches died out in the room behind them. The eyes of the old Air Nomads looked kindly upon them both, and all was forgiven.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	13. Moksha

The night was not typically the time for Firebenders, under the gaze of the moon. Their power was limited and the sun was nowhere to be felt. But on nights of the new moon, especially the summer nights, the moon's gaze disappeared and the limitations withered. For this time, once a month, the night was theirs. The first new moon of the summer was always a time for celebration in the Fire Nation, and if Firebenders know anything, it's how to throw a party.

Shadows danced across the main square, in tandem with the dancers who lit the night sky with their passion. The troupe of twenty-five Firebenders moved in perfect co-ordination, leaping through the air and leaving trails of fire beneath their feet. They spun and leapt, ducked and cart-wheeled, flowed and burst with the breath in their bodies. Their muscles sprang with the beating of the drums around them, keeping a constant, tribal rhythm. Many of the crowd watched entranced, some attempted to join in the dance in their own corners of the square, but none were as well-choreographed…and in any case had a tendency to provoke punch-ups from scorched passers-by. But this was a rare moment of tension in an atmosphere of exhilaration. They still had the dragon-dance to come and that was always fun.

The fireworks soared upwards to distract the spectators as the dancers finished and the next entertainment was set up. They had a lot of ammunition left over from the end of the war and they weren't going to be using it any time soon. On the balcony above the mood was jovial, for the most part. Most of the generals and ministers stayed at the table to gobble up as much food as they could, but many of the younger nobles were getting up to join in with the celebrations below. Long Feng belonged to neither camp, and was content at kneeling and watching the whole hoo-hah in procession, but he decided after a while that he might as well attempt to join in with something.

The Grand Secretary picked the steaming pot closest to him and poured some strange meaty saucy substance over his rice. Giving an experimental sniff, he couldn't entirely tell what the flavour of this thing was, but without much choice in the matter he picked up his chopsticks and clutched a sizeable clump of food between the prongs. He placed the food in the mouth, and paused. Politely, he swallowed, and leant back to take a sip of water. He ended up gulping down the cup so hard that some water escaped from his mouth and dribbled down the sides of his face. He replaced the cup and dabbed his face with a napkin to save face, calling to the waiting staff, "more water, please?"

"Not quite used to the cuisine, are you?" Azula commented amusedly, having already finished her bowl without a single drop spilt.

"There's more spice than food," Long Feng reviewed, picking up another clump of curry in-between prongs and eyeing it suspiciously before putting it back into the bowl, "I think I'll stick with just the rice."

Zuko was deep in thought, as was his usual way of spending his time, and hadn't touched any of the food as yet. Instead, and with no prior warning, he stood up from the carpet and wandered down towards the nearest stairway, past Mai and Ty Lee. The acrobat was looking at the knife-wielder with an extremely consternated expression.

"What?" Mai asked at last, as the pouty glaring was starting to get to her.

"I don't know what to do with you at times, Mai," Ty Lee lectured, "the love of your life is going out there by himself and all you can do is sit there!"

"Maybe he's going to the toilet," Mai remarked dully, taking a sip from her drink.

"He already knows! The longer you wait the sooner he'll just go off and find someone else!" Ty Lee waved her arms excitedly.

"What, like your Water Tribe boy has?" Mai made a condescending glance in Ty Lee's direction.

"Oh, I already got a plan in place for that!" Ty Lee clenched a fist in an adorably homicidal fashion, "it's called _destroying the opposition_!"

Mai slammed the drink down and clutched her head in frustration, "_it…doesn't…work…that…way!_"

"Then get out there and show me how it _does_ work!" Ty Lee gleamed, "Come on, Mai! Show me what you got!"

Mai stared down Ty Lee's grin for half a minute before sighing and rising from the table, "I'm getting out of here. Staying around you is retarding my mental faculties."

Ty Lee chuckled evilly to herself as Mai left, muttering to herself, "All will perish before the power of love!"

Zuko descended the stairway to inhabit the maelstrom of excitement below. People chattered to each other about things Zuko had only an abstract relationship with. Mothers talked to daughters, friends talked about their lives, kids talked with their feet pattering between the grown-ups' legs, lovers talked about their future lives, old couples talked about the lives they lived, a shopkeeper talked about not giving refunds, these things were unknown to him. He stepped into the crowd in an attempt to know more, to see more, to get away from the snake-pit above.

Zuko quickly lost his bearings. He never realised the square was so large before, and his vision was filled with excited smiles and flashing sparklers. He could hear the sound of the drums, and brief glimpses of moving cloth where the dragon danced, and those were the only bearings he had. If he continued moving in a circle he'd be back at one of the stairways again, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. The best he could do was move towards the stalls and hope the crowd there wasn't so…overwhelming.

Zuko found a corner of an enclosed stall he could rest his elbows against, and did so gratefully. From this vantage point he could see a bit more of the square over the heaving mass of bodies, but it was a family passing in front of his line of vision that caught his attention. A small boy and girl, no older than eight and seven, respectively, were tugging on their fathers' sleeves for some sweets.

"I already told you, Yen, you can't have any more chocolate! You'll make yourself ill!" the father implored the boy.

"They're not for me, Papa, they're for Naki!" the boy demanded.

"And that goes for your sister, too. I know you're both excited about this weird and mysterious thing from the Eastern Earth Kingdom, but remember what happened to your cousin Tze! That wasn't pretty at _all_, was it?" the father continued to try to reason with the tykes.

"But it's the newest stuff!" Yen whined.

"It got mint in it!" Naki squealed.

"Oh fer…" the father leaned down and talked to the two at eye level, "okay, you can experiment with _mint_, but this is your last bit of chocolate for a month, understand?"

The two of them pouted, but livened up when their father gave Yen two coins to spend on the stall selling 'Victory Chocolate' (the latest thing, apparently. Slogan is 'support our forces with the energy of cocoa'. Don't know how they explain the mint). The two ran towards the stall across an opening inside which a young couple was walking side by side holding sparklers downward, too enraptured in each others eyes to notice the two kids running across their path. Zuko started upwards but it was too late, as one of the sparklers struck the boy in the side of his face.

The boy dropped down and clutched the side of his head, bawling his eyes out. His little sister was close by and rubbing his back, while the couple were beside themselves in apology as his father leant down to look Yen over. The couple leant down also, and said "we're sorry! We didn't see him there!"

"Who needs Earthbenders when there are people like you?" the father shot back bitterly, and looked at the scorch mark that stung the boys' temple. It didn't look like it was serious, it just stun, but Zuko could tell the care the father poured over his son. He never felt that close a connection to his father. He couldn't imagine a world in which the Fire Lord treated any injury as anything other than a 'lesson'.

"Let me take a look at him!" came a quickened female voice, and Zuko saw a woman rush forward to take Yen in her arms. The father handed him over and looked at the woman with something approaching reverence. Zuko saw the woman's hand caress the boys' hair and call gently, "there, there. My brave little soldier. It's going to be okay."

This was the boys' mother. The effect on the boy was immediately calming, but to Zuko it produced a quickened heartbeat. He blinked, and couldn't tell the difference between this mother and his own. They blended together in his mind, and he had to turn away. He saw what happened next only in the corner of his eye. The couple had bought some Victory Chocolate for the boy as an apology, and the father had reluctantly, but graciously accepted it. The family walked away as the couple looked on in concern, but Zuko had disappeared back into the crowd by this time.

The maelstrom engulfed him, and he didn't even feel inclined to check his bearings now. The images that were coming into his mind didn't make any sense, and he could only pick up fragments. He saw the dragon dancing ahead of him. Was it red or blue? He couldn't tell the difference. It wrapped around him and sent him falling. He could see the child with the scorch mark, being cradled by his mother. He saw Aang being cradled by Katara. He saw himself being cradled by Ursa, his own mother. But she wasn't there when he was burned. There was only his father, and he had caused it. But then he saw the balcony above him, his father sitting on his throne. He saw himself sitting on that throne. He saw the people around him, so happy and alive, turn to dust. He didn't want to fall away, but he saw the glare in his uncle's eyes, holding the knife, looking for something that wasn't there, accusingly. And there wasn't anything to find. He grabbed out for something to identify himself with, when he saw ahead of him a vision of himself. He was looking at a row of masks, and one was staring straight at him, beckoning him. It was coloured blue, and for a moment Zuko could see himself with a blue arrow on his forehead. Replaced by the blue of painted wood, with tusks pointing up. He saw the eyes staring at him. The last glance of his mother, the accusing glance of his uncle, the pleading look of the Waterbending girl, the thinking, empty eyes of his sister, his own scarred eye facing him in the mirror, the glowing eyes of the Avatar, the darkened face of his father, and the black, invisible eyes of the Blue Spirit, staring straight through him.

"Um…Z…Zuko…" Mai spoke stutteringly, having only just found him in the crowd.

"Tell them I'll be back in a moment," Zuko ignored Mai entirely and strode forward towards the masks. Mai was lost for words for a few brief moments before turning back, looking put-upon.

"Maybe this will persuade her to shut up," Mai spoke dejectedly, as she skulked back towards the balcony.

Zuko picked up the mask with both hands and paid the surprised seller whatever happened to be in his pockets. He walked away a different person, the synthesis of everything that personified Zuko before he entered into the crowd. There was nothing new there, but there was one all-important difference than before.

He knew what he had to do.

* * *

"So what are we going to do?" Katara asked the rest of the group, Sokka, Toph, the Mechanist and Kuei, who were all having an impromptu evening conference in Aang's absence in the Mechanist's office. Momo was occupying himself trying to find bugs in the walls, an impromptu exhumation that the Mechanist was actually rather grateful for. Katara continued her point, "we find Jeong Jeong, bring him back here to teach Aang Firebending and then…what?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sokka smiled, "He learns to master the Avatar State and we go invade the Fire Nation!"

"That was General Fong's plan, and it sounded really dumb then as well," Katara reminded Sokka, "and invade with _what_, exactly?"

"We still got the Water Tribe on our side, our dad's ships will come in handy, and there are bound to be some Earth Kingdom rebels willing to sign up," Sokka explained, "it'll be a cakewalk."

"Until Azula zaps Aang again," Toph butted in, "and makes his death terminal this time."

"Ah! You thought I didn't think of that, did you?" Sokka waved a finger at Toph, "we invade during the eclipse. Azula won't be able to do a thing."

"The eclipse is in a month, right?" Katara pointed out, "whatever Aang needs to do to master Firebending and reach the Avatar State, it's going to take a lot longer than a month."

"Aw! Damned stupid magic no appreciation for timetables…" Sokka muttered in annoyance, "what about the eclipse!? We have to do _something _with it!"

"The forces you suggest will be nowhere near sufficient to confront my own forces, let alone the Fire Nation's," Kuei added his own analysis, "Azula knows about the eclipse. She's bound to keep some Earthbenders nearby just in case."

"What if we try to free Ba Sing Se?" Toph suggested, "Aang does his thing, knocks down a few walls and gets rid of the Dai Li?"

"No good," Sokka shot the suggestion down, "the Dai Li follow the orders of Azula, and she's gotta be long gone from Ba Sing Se by now. All the power right now is in the Fire Nation. If we take that out, everything else follows."

"Yeah, but let's be realistic," Katara appealed, "we can't take on the _entire _Fire Nation with just one Avatar and a boatful of allies scraped from the edges of the world. We have to be _smarter _than that!"

Sokka could tell the massive flaws in his plan from the beginning, and nursed it out of pride for as long as he could before finally ditching it, "well _this _military genius is out of ideas."

"Colour me naïve…" the Mechanist had his say, "but couldn't the Avatar just lay low and prepare for the next solar eclipse? We stayed safe here thus far by keeping strong positions and maintaining good support at the base. Couldn't we try the same thing for the Avatar?"

The group all looked at each other and sighed, sensing the impossibility of the task ahead, and Sokka explained, "a comet will pass over at the end of the summer, and increase the Firebenders' strength a hundred-fold. When that happens, it's all over."

The gloom descending over the room proved impossible to lift. There simply weren't any alternatives. They had nothing left to fall back on except the promise of Aang's recovery, and even that looked shaky. That is until they were startled by the sounds of laughter shrieking from outside the window to the office. They all ran forward to look, but only saw a distant, angular shape swerving to and fro outside.

"What's going on out there!?" Toph asked, not being able to see the commotion outside. The shape swerved back round and slid through the air down beneath the window, impacting with a clunk that made the assembled group wince. Toph chuckled, "wait, never mind, I think I can hazard a guess."

They ran out of the office to descend the steps down to the small canopy beneath the window of the office, and found Teo and Aang entangled in the remains of a glider, laughing their heads off. Sokka crossed his arms in annoyance, but Katara felt like joining in.

"Teo, what are you doing!?" the Mechanist ran forward to separate Teo's chair from the glider, which righted itself with a thunk, "the glider wasn't built for two!"

"Haha…sorry, father," Teo shone, "I was showing Aang to the new bath-house when we walked past the gliders and told him that it was beautiful flying at night. Once I told him that he wouldn't give me peace until I gave him a flight."

"How was it, Aang!?" Katara knelt down to help Aang to his feet, and the boy dusted off his bare knees, smiling from ear to ear.

"Only the best thing ever!" Aang described, his short hair getting to the point where the wind was starting to catch small strands, "what have you guys been up to?"

"Oh, nothing, just trying to find ways on how to end this war," Sokka stuck to his cross-armed ways, and they could see Aang's enthusiasm ebb away before their eyes, replaced with an overriding sense of melancholy.

"We should get some sleep. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow," Aang mentioned, walking past the group and onto the staircase back into the Temple. Katara slapped Sokka in the arm as soon as the boy was out of earshot.

"Don't you want him to get better!?" Katara accused.

"Of course I do!" Sokka explained, "can he just find something fun that doesn't involve getting himself killed!?"

"You've never had much fun, have you Sokka?" Toph intuited.

Nevertheless, they were inclined to take Aang's advice. It was going to be a busy day tomorrow. If not downright dangerous.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	14. Nirvana

'Tomorrow at dawn'.

The three words no one should have to hear. In his time as General he had uttered those words seventeen times. He had the blood of a lot more than seventeen people on his hands, but to keep a man chained in the night with the knowledge that he would never see another sunset was the worst torture Iroh could think of. He didn't know if suffering the same fate was irony or some kind of sick joke. After seven years he was hoping that karma would pass him by entirely. He had to pay for that hubris.

His chains were taut around his limbs. The guards were taking no second chances this time. Iroh had long since dismissed the possibility of a second chance, and spent his last night meditatively. He was determined from the moment he left the spirit world to enjoy life as much as he could, to live it for the sake of living. And he had only a few hours in a chained cell left to live it in. He was ready to move on, and had lost the urge to continue going. He was ready to be with his son again, to be with all those who had passed, including those seventeen people he put to death. He wanted earnestly to join with the rest of life, to let his experiences drift amongst them, and to merge with something greater than himself, something happier, something filled with laughter and the joy of life.

Iroh looked up to see the door opening, and hoped that it was his son who had come to lead the way. When in the darkness he saw the black suit and the blue, fanged mask, he was sorely disappointed, "I thought you had left that mask behind you, Prince Zuko. But then I never really knew you, did I?"

"I incapacitated the guards, but they won't be out for long," the Blue Spirit brought his broad-swords down and cut off Iroh's restraints with ease, slashing at the wrist chains, twirling the swords downward and stabbing at the ankle chains. Iroh never winced, or budged a muscle except the arms dropping down at his sides, and continued staring at the masked man. The Blue Spirit pointed towards the door, "I can get you out via the side gate, but we'll have to be quick before anyone suspects anything."

"If you're going to make a fool of yourself, at least have the decency to take that thing off," Iroh spoke coolly and monosyllabically. The Blue Spirit heaved a large sigh and complied with the old man's request.

"Uncle, we don't have time for this," Zuko implored, meeting Iroh's eyes in the dark.

"I don't know about you but I've got until dawn," Iroh crossed his arms, "so, my _brave_, _fearless_, _honourable _nephew, what brings you all the way down here when everything you want is yours to have upstairs?"

"I just want to set things right…" Zuko's gaze drifted away from his uncle's and settled on the floor of the cell.

"Bit late now, isn't it?" Iroh berated his nephew, "or do you suppose you can bring the Avatar back to life?"

"You and I both know the Avatar is alive," Zuko looked back at Iroh pleadingly, "you saw what the Waterbender was capable of. She must have been able to heal him."

"You're in a better position to think that than I," Iroh was adamant, "so now you're clinging to delusions out of guilt. Forgive me if I don't feel pity for your plight. You made your choice, now accept the consequences!"

"You didn't give me a choice…" Zuko turned back to the wall.

"What are you talking about?" Iroh challenged, "everyone can make a choice, Prince Zuko!"

"I saw it in the way you looked at me last night," Zuko continued, "you've given me guidance, shown me a path, but it was a path I didn't want. And then you look into my eyes like…you're looking for something that isn't there."

Iroh looked at Zuko disapprovingly, tired of arguing with a brick wall, and turned to side in disappointment. He had tried so hard with Zuko, trying to show him an alternative that the boy had spat in his face. It pained him to think of it, "to think I once thought of you as my son…"

"_I'm not your son!_" Zuko turned to Iroh and screamed with a passion that shocked the former general. Zuko calmed himself only slightly before continuing, "I never was! I can't be Lu Ten, Uncle. I can't be the loyal and dutiful son…not to my father or to you! I tried, Uncle, but I couldn't go on just accepting life as it was, waiting tables, attending to your needs, taking each day as it went. That's not what I wanted to do! You kept telling me that my future was up to me, but you never wanted me to do what _I _wanted! …all you wanted was your son back. And I'm sorry, Uncle. I'm sorry I wasn't able to become your loyal and dutiful son. I'm sorry I can't be a loyal and dutiful son to anyone. But that's not me. And I'm just going to have to live with that."

Iroh was struck by the force of Zuko's anger, and his self-doubt. He wanted to say that he didn't want Zuko to be the same as Lu Ten, that all he wanted was for Zuko to be true to himself. He wanted to argue that Zuko was mistaken and that he just hadn't tried hard enough. But, looking back at his own actions, at his own thoughts, Iroh knew Zuko was right. He had been leading the young prince down a road that wasn't his. Iroh wanted Lu Ten back so badly he had formed a surrogate in his place. And Zuko had rejected this. His anger at the boy lifted, his choice made more sense, and now after seeing both worlds Zuko was finally making a choice of his own. Iroh simply asked, "why are you freeing me?"

Zuko's face warmed as Iroh's softened, "because I don't think trying to be a father again is something someone should die for."

Zuko turned out of the cell and put his mask back on. The Blue Spirit looked back at Iroh and beckoned him out, saying "I can take you as far as outside the city. After that, you're going to have to make it on your own. You can use your contacts, and I trust your skills but…be careful."

Iroh, pausing briefly, walked forward out of the cell and placed a hand on the Blue Spirit's shoulder, looking straight into that black pair of eyes, "you're not my son, Zuko. But I hope at least I have opened the way for you to take whatever path you want to take. I may not be your father, and I know things have been strained between us, but…I want you to know I feel proud of you. For the man that you are. Not for whatever anyone else…even I…want you to be. I may not have said that enough, and I'm sorry I didn't…"

"It's fine, Uncle," the Blue Spirit assuaged, "I have done things I'm not proud of, and you shouldn't have to feel responsibility for my own mistakes. They're my mistakes, and I have to face them on my own. I tried to do that once…but I didn't know how. I hope now I'll have a better chance. And I have you to thank for that, Uncle. I have to thank you for trusting me despite all I've done. That's more than any father should do…"

"I'll be the judge of that, young Zuko," Iroh felt the need for a lightening of the mood, "but we have tough times ahead for both of us, and I hope for the sake of the world that you're right about the Avatar."

"He _is _alive, and you know it too," the Blue Spirit asserted, "I know the days ahead will be tough. I just hope the next we meet, I won't need this mask."

The air between the two of them crackled with shock when a tired groan drifted down the length of the corridor of the dungeon. Iroh turned quickly to see that one of the incapacitated red-uniformed guards was rising out of his stupor to look up the length of the cells towards them. Before the soldier registered their presence, however, a small wooden object flew at high speed down the dreary corridor and hit the guard square in the forehead, knocking him unconscious. Iroh turned to see the Blue Spirit's hand out-stretched in the direction of the guard, before the masked man turned back to the former general.

"I think that's enough heart-to-heart talk for now," the Blue Spirit recommended.

"I entirely agree," Iroh concurred, and began running alongside the blue-masked stranger that his nephew had transformed into, who was already darting at speed in the opposite direction from the guard.

They left the dungeon behind them. It was a strange omen…on the night marking the First Night of Summer, the time when the element of Fire reaches its peak, the Fire Nation abruptly acquired two new enemies. The celebrations continued in the square, unawares, and the Blue Spirit guided the wizened former general into the darkness away from the brilliantly-lit city.

* * *

Light emerged early through the rafters of the Northern Air Temple, the dust in the air gently swirling and falling high above near the ceiling, illuminated by the light that peeked inside the large chamber with some difficulty, but making it very clear that it was morning, it was a clear, hot day outside and that it was time to get up and start moving.

Katara had been looking up and watching the light drift across the high walls with her head resting on her crossed arms. Occasionally she looked over to the sleeping figure of the 12-year-old fuzzy-haired child that slept soundly in the sleeping bag beside them. There were beds a-plenty elsewhere in the Air Temple, but she had the idea of letting them all sleep in the presence of Appa, to let the two of them spend the night near each other. Sokka was adamant about sleeping in a comfy bed for once in his life, and Toph felt like she deserved some personal space, leaving Katara to stay with Aang for the night. Momo slept soundly close to the boy's rest, and seemed to be breathing in time with Appa. She wondered briefly about how the two animals would handle separation, but quickly decided that was beside the point.

Katara had gotten used to watching Aang sleep, especially during the two nerve-wracking weeks wondering if the next time the boy drew breath would be his last. Some traces of that worry still remained. She had watched him sleep before, on those preciously few mornings when Aang's energy was insufficient to get him up early in the mornings. She always noticed that his sleep was frequently restless, filled with vague mumbles and whimpers, interspersed with the odd wistful smile and sudden jump, like he was alternating between nightmares of his past and penguin-sledding. This morning he slept as soundly as a mouse, no expression crossing his face except calm detachment. All their efforts to make him feel alive yesterday seemed to be dissipating in his sleep.

But his seeming contentment made Katara pause for thought about whether it was right to try to change Aang back into what he was before. This was the Avatar, the last hope for all the world, and all she was thinking of was the cute boy he was before. She thought about how selfish that was, when the fate of the world was at stake. But Aang's appearance was a breath of fresh air in this world wracked by conflict, his happiness and enthusiasm something she felt she desperately needed in her life, and the lives of everyone Aang touched. It wasn't only being the Avatar, the Last Airbender, master of all four elements, that showed Katara how special he was. She knew he was special before that, for different reasons. Aang's entire being was what the world needed. And to see that drift away was heartbreaking. If the City of Lieu couldn't spark that light in Aang's soul, what could?

Sparking the light…

"Well Katara, out of devotion and a sense of duty I cut short my precious sleeping time in order to get an early start," Sokka, appearing at the large doorway that led out of the straw-matted hall with Toph and a backpack nearby, interrupted Katara's thoughts, "the least you could do is actually get up."

"Sorry!" Katara kicked off her sleeping bag and stood up, dusting herself off, "I was just making sure Aang was oka-"

Katara interrupted herself when she stood up to see that Aang was wide awake, kneeling beside Appa with a satchel around his shoulder and a contented smile, stroking Momo awake. Momo was yawning himself awake and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. While Katara was occupied with her thoughts earlier, Aang had awoken and gotten himself ready…and she hadn't even noticed. Katara noticed as Aang was kneeling down that his shirt lifted up to reveal his back. She could see part of the massive scar on Aang's back, standing out fiercely along the length of his spine.

"He feels fine to me," Toph added her own critique, "now let's get moving. It's been ages since I've used these legs…"

Aang had picked Momo up and launched him into the air, sensing that the little critter wanted to fly. Toph held out an arm for the winged lemur to latch onto, and Momo proceeded to climb up her arm to perch on Toph's shoulder, beginning to clean himself with his tongue. Aang knelt down to pick up a backpack lying packed on the ground with both hands and handed it to Katara. The Waterbender took the backpack absent-mindedly, still concerned about the red-clothed boy. Still looking at Aang, she knelt down to roll up the sleeping bag and place it on the backpack.

"Are you sure you want to leave so soon?" Katara asked of Aang, "we've stayed for barely a night and we're leaving again, to places that could be really dangerous. It would be alright if you wanted to wait a while."

"We don't have much time as it is," Aang replied calmly, "it's not like I want to leave, but right now the arrival of Sozin's comet can be measured in days. The sooner we find a Firebending teacher, the sooner I can unlock the Avatar State and the sooner we'll be able to be at peace again. I know you're concerned, but you don't need to worry about me…"

"Yeah, it'll be easy!" Sokka stretched his arms above his head and smiled, "just you wait, we'll be back here in these nice, comfy beds with Jeong Jeong in tow before the week is out!"

Katara had finished fastening the sleeping bag and was loading the backpack onto her shoulders, giving a foul glance in Sokka's direction, "knowing how your predictions turn out, we'll be tied to poles about to be burnt alive before the week is out."

"There's only room for one cynic on this crew, sugar queen," Toph crossed her arms. She abruptly uncrossed them and turned around, sensing the approach of two people who duly appeared outside the doorway. The Mechanist and the Earth King, the latter of which was struggling forward inside his dressing gown.

"Oh good, you're awake," the Mechanist put his hands together in genuine happiness, "Teo's part of the early morning patrol, so I'm sorry he couldn't see you off. But I can show you a secret way out of the Air Temple that will take you out of the mountains past the gaze of the Fire Nation watchtowers. They watch all the other passages like halks."

"Kuei!" Aang stepped forward with a smile before bowing respectfully, "Your Majesty. I'm glad you came to see us off."

"I felt it my duty as ruler of the Earth Kingdom to wish you all success on this vital endeavour," Kuei smiled in return before blushing, "I…apologize for my attire. I'm not used to getting up this early in the mornings. Or dressing myself for that matter."

"Well…think of them as valuable life skills!" Sokka advised cheerfully. Kuei didn't take the advice with much grace until he lightened up and placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder.

"You know, Warrior Sokka, you're absolutely correct," Kuei smiled warmly, and looked at all of the group admirably, "you have shown me many things in the past few weeks that I didn't even know existed. And to know there's so much of my own kingdom I know so little about. The places, the people, the cruelties and the kindness…I honestly don't know how to thank you all. It may have taken my being deposed to see all these things, but when I consider what I've witnessed…it's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. If...no, _when_…I reclaim my throne, one thing I will promise is to see every part of this kingdom. I don't want to cower behind walls for the rest of my life when there's so much that's wonderful and terrible beyond it. I want to know it all now, and how to make it better. If I'm going to be useful to you at all, I'm going to be useful in making my Kingdom a better place for all its people. You have my eternal gratitude, Warrior Sokka, Master Katara, Master Toph and…Avatar."

"Don't forget Momo," Katara joked, and Momo snapped his head around while gripping Toph's shoulder, hoping for some form of honour. Preferably in fruit form. The King simply laughed, and then looked down, knowing the seriousness of the task ahead.

"You have the weight of the world on all your shoulders…it's more than people your age should have," the King spoke, "I became King when I was only a child. I know the feeling of responsibility placed on shoulders too young. But we never have a choice in such things. And, seeing how you have all managed…I know you'll succeed."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Aang bowed again, before taking a small, white object out of his pocket, "and since we're talking about responsibility…I'm not sure how to say this…I was wondering if you could take good care of Appa while we're gone? This whistle can only be heard by him, so if he ever decides to go wandering, you can use this to bring him back. He's a pretty heavy eater…but I guess that's something you two can have in common."

Kuei looked down at the bison whistle and felt taken aback at the trust this boy showed in him, "I'm sorry. I feel honoured to be trusted in this way but…I can't accept this. He's your bison, after all, I can't presume to claim ownership over him."

"Neither do I," Aang shrugged, placing the whistle in the King's hands, "he's my best friend. While he's here, I hope he can be yours," Aang smiled, and looked back at the giant flying bison, rising gradually out of his slumber. The boy walked over and padded his giant brow, "and you…you take of yourself, okay boy?"

Appa grunted, and shook his head from side to side to get the annoying thing off his face. Aang took his hand off very reluctantly, and knelt down to look in the bison's eye. The others watched, knowing this was something they couldn't intrude in.

"I don't know how I look in your eyes, but I must look like something terrible," Aang spoke gently to the creature, "I know I'm not the boy you grew up with, and I know you fear what I'm becoming. I…I fear it too."

Katara held her hands together and tried as hard as she could not to tear up. The small red figure, looking so vulnerable next to the gentle colossus, looked down at the straw that was laid patchily on the floor of the hall and inside himself, both at once.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone for, but I hope it won't be too long," Aang looked back up into the bison's eye, "then we can get back to normal, the two of us. Or as normal as we can get in this crazy world. I'll have tons of stories to tell you…and who knows, maybe you'll have stories of your own too. I'll have to trust Kuei to tell them to me, though. He's going to take good care of you. And Teo and his father and all the Gliders here. I know you'll miss me. I know you miss me right now. I just want you to know…we've been separated so many times, and we've sought each other every time. I know, this time, I'm leaving you behind because I'm choosing to. But…I'll never stop missing you. Whatever you think of me, I'll never stop loving you, boy."

Aang leant forward to hug the beast, who snapped his eye open in surprise. But gradually, and gently, the intrusion faded away, and the eye gradually closed again. The bison made no effort to shake Aang off, and nuzzled into the small boy. Appa understood. He didn't know what he was understanding, but he understood. Katara could see a small tear, just one, running down Aang's face.

Then they parted, and Aang silently stepped back. Katara placed a hand on the boy's frayed shoulder, and he made no effort to resist.

"Come, before the Fire Nation begin their patrols," the Mechanist began walking out of the hall and, one by one, the group followed behind. Toph, with Momo still on her shoulder, stayed behind briefly to wish the Earth King well.

"Well, Your Highness, here's hoping you'll be safe here while we're gone, and back on your throne in no time," Toph smirked deviously, "and if you ever feel like you're trapped and want to break out and cause havoc, don't hesitate. Trust me, you'll feel like a new man afterwards."

"Thank you…I think," the Earth King bowed to the strange blind girl, and she left with Momo purring in tow. For a peculiar moment he thought he saw the winged lemur bow before disappearing out of the doorway. Kuei, sighing deeply in his new-found isolation, wandered over to the giant bison and plonked himself down beside the beast, sidling up and accommodating himself with the behemoth, "looks like we'll be spending a long time together…do you like nuts?"

Appa grunted a grunt that echoed around the light-drenched hall. Whether it meant 'yes' or 'no' Kuei couldn't tell, but he was filled with the desire to make new friends.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	15. Brave New World

"I swear! It was big! And fluffy! And…bison-y!" the lizard-goat-herder explained frenetically to the Major. The man seemed puny next to the muscle-built soldiers that flanked him, and shuffled his feet nervously before the makeshift desk, piled high with maps and reports. The desk was no more than a stone slab, positioned beneath a wide triangular stone roof, erected with the speediest of Earthbending. Major Gin Hong wanted to keep on the move, but recognised the need to keep all the documents he'd gathered in a sheltered place. It wouldn't be long before they moved again, but in only two days he had acquired a vast swathe of organisational responsibilities, so it was hard to squeeze interviews with locals in-between half-a-dozen other tasks.

"So you saw the bison, with two men, one a Water Tribe warrior and the other a tall man in green clothing, while passing through the mountains near the abandoned City of Lieu?" Major Gin Hong interrogated the man, who was barely an adult, over the sighting. The Major had established his forward post in a narrow valley some distance into the northern mountains, where they happened upon this fellow. He was very eager to talk bison, and the Major obliged him with an audience, "and you could hear some commotion going on beneath you, is that right?"

"Yes! I believe some of the others were down in the city itself!" the herder asserted. Sergeant Mugong, standing nearby, suppressed a small giggle.

"Someone's riding the Big Carp? No one's done that in years," the Sergeant commented. Major Gin Hong took no notice of the comment and placed his feet up on the desk, looking over a map and scratching his chin.

"I find it hard to believe they'd waste time on something so trivial as riding water slides," the Major pondered sceptically before shrugging, "but there's nothing about your account that strains probability. They had to be somewhere around that area anyway. Thank you for the information."

The herder bowed respectfully, and shuffled his feet some more before coughing politely, "uh…I understand there's a small reward for any information about the Avatar…"

"Haven't you heard the news? The Avatar died two weeks ago," the Major didn't turn his eyes from the page, but reached out his other hand to push forward a notice from the Earth Kingdom authorities that had arrived that morning, "I guess things take a while to get to your neck of the woods."

"Oh…" the herder mumbled dishearteningly, looking down to the ground. The Major's eyes shifted to the man in sympathy, and the soldier heaved a sigh.

"I guess you deserve something for your diligence," the Major reached into his pocket and chucked a small bag of monies across the shelter into the herder's hands, "here. You've been very helpful."

The herder caught the bag and looked at it dumb-foundedly. He hadn't had much time to digest the startling news, and simply nodded, "thank you, sir".

The herder ran out of the shelter and the Major turned back to looking at the map, picking up a piece of chalk and placing a cross amongst a string of others that lay along the northern mountains. He thwacked the chalk back on the desk in frustration, bringing the map forward for his sergeant to see, "this is no good. The City of Lieu's _behind _us. We're getting excellent information on where they've _been _but nothing on where they're _going_."

"Looking at that path there, they seem to be heading to the northern tip…" Sergeant Mugong peered over to give his opinion, "I think there used to be an Air Temple up there."

"There _is _an Air Temple up there, but it's behind the new border," the Major rested his head on his hand and leant his elbow on the desk, "it's in Fire Nation territory. We'll have to ask the Fire Nation authorities to pursue them, which they'll probably decline and try to capture the bison's crew for themselves. In any case we can't do anything until the General re-assumes command."

General Hu, the one man with the authority to pursue the Avatar's bison into Fire Nation territory, had recovered from the attack but was taking a momentary leave of duty for reasons the Major couldn't entirely fathom. The last time Major Gin Hong had seen his commanding officer, he looked completely lost. Maybe he just needed some time off, but they couldn't afford the time off with so much detritus from the end of the war still to clean up.

"Major Gin Hong, I bring some good news," the Dai Li agent scared the living daylights out of the Major by appearing soundlessly right next to him. But the soldier quickly recomposed himself.

"Is it about the General?" the Major asked quickly, since if it wasn't about improving their operational capacities then it damned well wasn't good news. The Dai Li's smile was all Major Gin Hong could see of his face.

"In a way, yes," the Dai Li agent held out a scroll bearing the Earth King's seal and handed it to the Major, "direct from the Earth King."

The Major stood up to receive the scroll and broke the seal, facing away from the Dai Li agent as he read. Gin Hong wasn't a man used to smiling, but his face registered a definite uptick. He turned to his Sergeant, addressing him warmly, "Sergeant, you know that case of Maotai the General was saving for his eightieth birthday party?"

"Yes, sir…?" Sergeant Mugong noted bitterly. The General kept that vast stock of alcohol closely guarded and seemed determined to taunt the rest of his men with its existence.

"I think we'll break it out a little early, and distribute it amongst the men," Gin Hong looked approvingly on the scroll, "we'll be redeploying south. The search for the Avatar's companions is now someone else's problem."

"But we…can't do either of those things without an express order from the General!" the Sergeant stood confused as Gin Hong sat down behind his desk and put his feet up, grinning confidently.

"That _was _an express order from the General, _Major _Mugong," General Gin Hong gave his three first executive orders in the space of a minute, "the Earth King has ordered the Twelfth Army to confront rebels who are using the Earth Kingdom as a base from which to mount attacks against our new allies. I would like my men to be in good spirits first."

* * *

The bright morning sun didn't reach into the path the Avatar and his companions travelled down, the deep, perpendicular grey sides of the ravine hiding them from view. The sides of the ravine alone towered over them, so the group was starting to imagine how big the mountains either side of it were. Unfortunately, or fortunately considering they wanted to stay alive, it was utterly secluded from all vantage points except straight up. And so that was the vantage point they were spotted from, by an arrow-shaped craft drifting gently overhead.

"Hey Aang!" Teo cried down cheerfully into the ravine below, causing everyone to look up except Toph, who merely stopped ahead of them. They were all glad to hear his voice, "good luck!"

"You too!" Aang called back, the few words being enough to satisfy their goodbyes, and the shape disappeared from view. The sky above was utterly cloudless, clear and blue, but the shade of the ravine kept them cool as they travelled down the mountainside. They couldn't see the Fire Nation observation posts, but trusted them to be there. Toph had acquired a position out in front of the group, very happy about the prospect of walking on solid ground for the trip. The rest were nowhere near as keen, but the beautiful day assuaged their gripes, and it definitely helped that much of the journey was downhill. The prospect of heading back _up _this way preyed on Sokka's mind, but then he saw the bad side of everything, and in case was occupying his mind with how to make the trip a little easier next time around.

Katara was concerned about Aang's feet on the jagged rock, but the boy didn't complain once about the whole trip. For purposes of travelling, Aang had acquired a pair of sandals, but in the light of day next to the dangerously sharp rocks they looked exceptionally flimsy. Toph was one thing, since her feet seemed to have developed a thick layer of terracotta, but Aang's feet had barely touched the ground in his entire life. The boy's calm resilience was extraordinary, since after a good few _li _even Katara's feet, ensconced in padded boots, were starting to ache.

They emerged from the ravine and travelled a short while through the largely desolate northern mountains, travelling along well-trodden paths of least resistance. They sometimes passed other travellers, mostly farmers taking produce to and from distant villages in the mountains. Occasionally there appeared a Fire Nation patrol, but Toph tended to warn them in time to avoid them, since in the deep recesses of the mountains it was hard to see much around corners, and Sokka was frequently eagle-eyed enough to notice patrols passing above. It really wasn't very good patrolling country, and the locals were clued-up enough on this to frequently be found transporting goods they quite frankly shouldn't have, such as high-level machinery or various intoxicating substances. The Fire Nation was going to have trouble pacifying this rocky landscape. They tended to bypass villages, since they had an inkling the Fire Nation knew they were in the area and had plenty of soldiers and freshly-inked posters posted there. This didn't pose a problem for their supplies since their time in the mountains was mercifully short. A few hours later and they were already in the foothills, and their paranoia gradually eased.

Once far enough from the grey peaks of the northern mountains, they came across a sizeable clear blue river. The sun reflected off the surface back onto their faces as they scouted down the tree-lined edges of the wide waterway for a path to cross. Before them they found a sight they felt compelled to stop and gasp at: an iron bridge. The latticed metal arc across the river, anchored between the shores by large structures of masonry, was an unwelcome reminder that this corner of the Earth Kingdom was, to all observations, no longer a part of Earth Kingdom in geography or in spirit. Mercifully, and miraculously, it was unguarded, and the group crossed it with ease, but that didn't stop their paranoia abruptly bursting back into their minds. Once they were across, it was like entering another world.

The paths here were straighter and better-planned, with trees lining either side of the road. Fellow travellers were much more frequent, but while the few green-clothed mountain travellers were eager to pause and say hello to passers-by, these more numerous red-clothed farmers, transporters and wandering workers were much more concerned with their own daily issues. They sometimes passed people in green clothes, and even saw one or two blue-clothed travellers, so their procession didn't seem out of the ordinary, even if Momo had to dart inside a backpack sometimes. The sun was nearing its height, and with no cover to travel behind the environment became dramatically more humid. Katara was starting to feel distinctly overdressed, and she could tell she wasn't the only one. Aang, in his sleeveless and knee-length Fire Nation clothes, wearing open-air sandals, was the most comfortable out of all of them, and didn't seem especially tired. Katara was feeling exhausted, and Toph was starting to fall behind Aang, feeling finally that there really could be something like too much walking. Sokka had been panting ever since they left the mountains, and the backpack was getting extraordinarily stuffy for Momo.

Feeling a need to stop and take some rest, the group looked around for a quiet back-road to pause and take stock. They hadn't encountered many Fire Nation patrols, since the Fire Army obviously felt they didn't need to worry about this part of the conquered Earth Kingdom. The group could tell why. Despite the apparent rural idyll, evidence of the Fire Nation's colonisation efforts were always just outside eyeshot. In all four directions, somewhere in the distance, was at least one rising black smoke trail, turning this part of the world into something resembling their own country. Even the air around them looked redder than usual. The number of travellers thinned as they walked, until only they remained within Toph-detection-distance. They had found a back road, and travelled south towards a very familiar cross-road.

"Hey! I remember this place!" Sokka spoke gratefully, welcome for anything that helped him gain his bearings, "that bill-board! It looks barely changed from last time."

"It feels like it's always summer here…" Katara spoke thoughtfully, looking around the clearing they had walked into. It really hadn't changed from last time. It was…uncanny.

"We can use this place to start out on our search. Jeong Jeong can't be far from here," Aang stopped next to the bill-board and sat down, absent-mindedly kicking off his sandals to massage them with his hands, "though I don't think wandering around until we run into Chey again is going to be enough this time."

"Ahh…something to rest my toes…I hope…" Sokka felt relieved at the possibility of letting his feet rest for a little while. Momo, sensing the chance for freedom, flew out of the backpack and floated around the clearing, airing himself out. But Sokka realised how often his chances turned out too good to be true, so he turned to Toph to ask, "Toph, can you feel any Fire Nation patrols anywhere around this area?"

"None," Toph answered without a shadow of doubt, "not a single soldier's boot for the last four or five _li_."

"Oh good…" Sokka let his backpack drop, but he paused before letting himself descend. Something wasn't right. There were facts about their surroundings that didn't seem to fit.

"Hey! Look at this!" Katara had disposed of her own backpack and wandered forward to look at the bill-board, "it says…'The Avatar is Dead'."

"Not exactly lying, is it?" Toph commented, wiping her brow.

"Toph, don't tease the recently departed," Sokka dead-panned, approaching the bill-board behind Katara.

"Aw fer…who _can _I tease?" Toph huffed.

"Hmmm…tease her!" Sokka pointed at Katara while looking at the poster.

"Hey!" Katara yelled at Sokka. Sokka ignored his sister's protests and let his eyes descend down the rows of calligraphy.

"'The eternal nemesis was defeated by the fearless Fire Princess Azula in a fierce and bloody battle near the end of Spring in the City of Ba Sing Se, preventing the cowardly Avatar from overthrowing the Earth Kingdom and destroying all hope of peace between our peoples.' Of all the stupid…" Sokka raised an eyebrow at how in the world anyone could believe this stuff, before peering closer, "oho! The 'brave and loyal Fire Prince Zuko' warrants a mention…"

"Don't!" Katara interrupted fiercely, "I never want to hear that name again!"

Toph had to turn and cock an eyebrow of her own at Katara's reaction. It seemed…odd. A strength of feeling under-running her outburst that couldn't be adequately explained by simple hatred of a mortal enemy. Her thoughts were interrupted by something moving in the trees nearby, but after a few moments Toph concluded it had to be a rock falling or something. It didn't feel like there was anyone there.

"News of your passing spread pretty quickly, Aang," Sokka commented, "this says Azula announced it only last night. Katara's little speech must have been more convincing than we thought."

"Could have fooled me," Toph crossed her arms and glared internally at the shape in her mind of what was Katara. It crossed her mind just now that when Katara had said that in General Hu's camp, she wasn't telling the truth but she didn't feel like she was entirely _lying _either. The blind girl was starting to learn that the Waterbender had more layers of meaning than most people.

"Don't you see? This is good!" Sokka spread his arms happily, "this means no one will be looking for Aang anymore! Especially the way he looks now, he can go anywhere and the only people who know he's Aang are all the way away in the Northern Air Temple! The Fire Nation won't be able to touch us. I say we keep it this way, it'll make things tons easier."

"For me, maybe," Aang stepped forward and pointed to the poster beside Azula's declaration, a series of faces with calligraphy descending below each, "a list of the current most-wanted. Your faces are at the top."

Indeed, at the upper-right corner of the poster was the three 'remaining' members of the group, followed by Kuei described as 'impostor of the Earth King'. They were unnervingly accurate depictions of their faces, but what attracted Sokka the most was that he was at the very beginning of the list.

"Sokka: Water Tribe Warrior and devious tactician," Sokka read with a huge grin on his face, "my reputation precedes me! And the picture sure ain't ugly either. Mrowr…"

"Yeah, I'm sure Suki will fall for you all over again when she learns you're the Fire Nation's Most Wanted," Katara snarkily intruded.

"Suki! The Kyoshi Warriors! They gotta be on the list!" Sokka dragged his finger across the list of faces, and while many were familiar, none of the Kyoshi Warriors were wanted by the Fire Nation. Sokka's face fell dramatically, and he double-checked the board to see if he made a mistake, "w…why isn't she on the list?"

"The Fire Nation's got to have more enemies than can be fit in a single list," Aang suggested quickly, "your father's on the list."

"Hey yeah! Dad's still showing the Fire Nation a tough time!" Katara joined in trying to distract Sokka from his concerns, "bet _he's _proud of you reaching the top."

"Yeah," Sokka's finger-tips touched the poster, and he seemed to grow even more melancholy, "but he doesn't need to worry about me."

Katara knew she needed to distract things soon before Sokka got too wrapped up in his own problems, "hey, they still show me with my old hairstyle! And…isn't that the leader of the Omashu resistance?"

Sokka snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the face only one notch behind Toph's, "Yuung? He's gotten pretty far up in the stakes, hasn't he? It says here 'treacherous leader of a band of Earth Kingdom rebels. Orchestrated numerous attacks on Fire Nation territory'. Huh. He could come in handy…"

The three looking over the poster were interrupted by a loud coughing from Toph, hot, bothered and thoroughly irritated at the lack of concern about her inability to read, "_anyway_. We're looking for this Jeong Jeong, right?"

"Ah! Right you are!" Sokka was motivated to carry on regardless of the sweat building up under his armpits, "I'm sure you'll like him. He's rude, self-centred and incredibly irritable…just like you!"

"Couldn't we stop at least a _little _while longer?" Katara rubbed her own shoulders, "we did just walk for six hours straight in blazing summer heat."

"What, you want the Fire Nation finding him first?" Sokka snapped back, before his face clouded over with sudden enlightenment, switching his head back to the Most Wanted list, "hey…Jeong Jeong isn't on the list."

"Like Aang said before, lots of enemies, only one poster," Katara pointed out, crossing her arms.

"But he was all over these billboards before!" Sokka realised, "think about it. Jeong Jeong's meant to be in this area. So how come the bridge we crossed had no guards? How come there isn't a single soldier in a five _li _radius? This place should be crawling with patrols trying to track him down!"

"Maybe he's just moved elsewhere," Katara leant down to reluctantly pick up her backpack, "this is _Jeong Jeong _we're talking about. He's as likely to get caught as-"

A poster, slightly ripped and caked with mud, detached itself from the bottom of the backpack and floated down to the ground. Momo, descending from overhead, was interested enough in the moving object to fly down and poke it, hoping it was edible. Katara, suddenly sensing the worst, put the backpack down beside herself to pick up the piece of parchment. She wiped off the mud with her hand and calmed herself before reading it. Her eyes snapped open in shock.

"It's Jeong Jeong! He's been captured!" Katara yelped, leading the others to rush over.

"I told you so," Sokka mentioned hurriedly, "what else does it say!?"

"He's set to be executed!" Katara's hands trembled, "a public execution in the town of Waegwan!"

"We have to help him," Aang asserted fiercely, "when is the execution taking place?"

Katara read the bottom of the poster, "it just says…'tomorrow at dawn'."

From the edge of the clearing there came the sound of cruel, weedy laughter. Toph snapped her attention towards the direction of the laughter, which came from the strange movement she heard earlier. She knew there was someone there, but he felt like a pale shadow, more of a lump than a working human body. The others were much slower to turn their attentions towards the intruder, who they found was in plain sight the whole time. He had laid unmoving for the entire time they were there, sprawled against a tree with an empty bottle in his hand, laughing a bitter, painful laugh.

"That poster was put up yesterday…" Chey drawled, smiling blearily.

"No…" Katara let the parchment drop out of her hands. A few hours. A few hours earlier…Jeong Jeong had met his end. The three who knew Jeong Jeong felt utterly stunned. They couldn't conceive of a world in which the Firebending Master wasn't alive. They couldn't accept it. Aang was the first to properly process the fact.

"How…how did it happen?" Aang asked, his shoulders sinking.

Chey looked at them in drunk amusement and explained painstakingly, "well…what they did was…see…what they did was…they blindfolded him, see, and they took him up to this big stage…there were lots of people, I think…" Chey looked carefully at his bottle, "might not 've been, I guess…hic…but then…y'see…they tied him up an' they all lined up an' then they…"

"_No!_" Katara clenched her fists and yelled, angry beyond reason, "how did he get caught…"

"Pretty impressive, really…hic…went out with a bang, a' least," Chey pointed vaguely in the group's direction, "set damned near half the forest on fire tryin' to get 'im. Fought to his last ounce 'a strength…but the fumes…the fumes…"

Chey stared in the distance, and the rest of the group did the same. Their whole reason for coming here had collapsed into a pile of molten ash. The strange, enigmatic Jeong Jeong was mortal after all. Consumed by the element he knew better than anyone, the element he hated more than anything. He felt himself cursed by Fire. And that curse had claimed him. And all their hopes had been consumed with him. Aang looked dulled, but his mind raced. He had to master this thing, this evil thing. He had to accept it as part of himself. But it hurt those around him. He breathed deeply. It was one of those truths about the world he had to accept.

"Well…I guess I'm famous now…" Chey swaggered, looking up at the sky, "now I really am the only Fire Nation soldier to have deserted the Army and lived…hic…"

"What about General Iroh?" Toph asked level-headedly. She wasn't about to be affected by the gloom that had descended on everyone else, "he turned against the Fire Nation to save us. And he's still alive."

"What, didn't you hear?" Chey waved his bottle in Toph's direction, "they had him scheduled to be executed this morning as well."

Toph could feel the deserter's heartbeat. It was…absolutely…stable…

"Guess they wanted ta be thorough…" Chey swung his head back to gulp down the last of his precious liquor, only for the bottle to be smashed through completely by a fierce sliver of rock, sharp and jagged, that rose in an angle from the ground to a few inches in front of his face. Had he hesitated half a second, he would have been decapitated. Chey's head lolled to the side to see the blind girl, strained into an Earthbending stance with her left arm thrust towards the deserter, every muscle trembling uncontrollably from the effort. Toph stared ahead with an expression of fierce, terrible, pained fury, breathing harshly, tears streaming unnoticed from her blind, hateful eyes.

Chey held out both his hands and dragged his body up the side of the tree, stumbling a couple of times from the effort of getting himself upright, "hey…don't bludgeon the messenger. It's just what I heard…oh…wait a sec…'kay, sorry, there were two of ya for a moment there…"

Toph thrust her right arm forward and burst a fresh dagger of earth towards Chey, shredding the tree he was leaning on. With nothing except two pillars of jagged razor sharp rock to lean against, he put up both hands in capitulation, "'kay…'kay…I gets the message. I'll leave ya in peace…" Chey struggled out from between the pillars and gradually vanished into the forest, leaving behind little except the stench of drink, "jus'…good luck 'n all…not many of us left…gone 'n chucked inta Base 77 or wherever theys sticks people these days…I mean…lookit me…I'm not even here…"

Toph shuddered, weeping softly, keeping her arms up in a gesture of futile defiance. Aang hadn't much opportunity to know Iroh, but he remembered how he'd helped them so many times with his wisdom, in the spirit lake at the North Pole, and especially in the Old City. Where he went, joy was always in his wake…and sadness. Aang stepped forward to place a hand on Toph's shoulder, but the blind girl shook it off fitfully, pulling her arms down rapidly and collapsing the pillars deep into the earth. Toph's face, hidden away from the rest of them, turned away as she tremblingly marched away from the centre of the clearing.

They were all silent. There was nothing they could say. In that clearing, on this beautiful summer day, the last hope for peace in this world was burnt to a cinder. Their dreams of a better life quietly, painfully drifted away, and their spirits dimmed. There was nothing they could do now. There was nothing left.

**To Be Continued…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


	16. Age Of Fire

Azula held a few suspicions that Zuko was in fact the mysterious and enigmatic Blue Spirit, but now she was absolutely certain. That may have made the Blue Spirit considerably less mysterious and enigmatic, but it was hardly a major loss. They were just words to her in any case. But it did make the irony of the impromptu meeting they were all holding together in the Fire Lord's throne room all the more delicious.

"So…this 'Blue Spirit'…snuck into my palace and helped my brother…escape," Ozai rumbled, leading a nervous silence that had the Minister of Justice sweating buckets, relieved at last by a carnal fury that sent the flames surrounding the Fire Lord's throne to the roof, and they could see the Fire Lord standing tall, a formidable presence even without the flames, "_this is the heart of the Fire Nation! How could this happen!?_"

"We strengthened security after the night before, Oh Fire Lord…" the Minister of Justice remained sitting straight with what shreds of dignity he could muster. Cowering for forgiveness was worse than committing suicide as far as Ozai was concerned, "whomever this 'Blue Spirit' is, his skill and determination must be formidable to counter our defences. We must do whatever it takes to hunt him down!"

Ozai paused to consider this turn of events, sitting back down on the throne. Azula was kneeling upright next to Zuko, as grim-faced as ever, and still feeling excluded as evidenced by his continued refusal to wear a uniform or a top-knot, but she could tell the nervousness swelling underneath that hard surface. She was positive he was the Blue Spirit. It made perfect sense, since Zuko had momentarily disappeared during the festivities last night, and he was the one person who would have access to the Royal Dungeons and the motivation to free Uncle. Azula was starting to wonder why the other assembled generals and ministers hadn't the remotest clue that the real enemy was in their midst, but then she was frequently annoyed at the failings of others. That was a problem she planned to rectify sometime soon.

"This _worm _that bested the Royal Guard must be found and dealt with," Ozai commanded, "but _Iroh _is of greater importance. I want him _found_, and I want him _killed on sight_. I want one of you to dedicate yourselves to this task."

Here is when a beautiful plan comes together, thought Azula. There were only two people in that room with the capacity and experience to engage in wild hunts around the Nation: Zuko and herself. Zuko could never bring himself to hunt down and kill his own uncle, so he would be given the 'lesser' task of hunting down the Blue Spirit. Let's see how adept the proud and fierce Fire Prince Zuko is at hunting _himself_.

Actually, she didn't need to see. She already knew. The search for the Avatar had defined Zuko in many ways, and without that, she had observed, Zuko had wandered listless through the halls of power for the past few days. He had come back and singularly failed to live up to his father's love, just as she knew the weakling wouldn't, and could never dare support his uncle publicly because of her staged assassination attempt. Publicly, he had to meekly go along with whatever his father said, and try to help his uncle privately. The contradictions would break him apart, leaving him diminished as a person, a hollow shell.

Azula smiled at Zuko's pained silence. Her plan, set in motion she felt ever since she was born, was about to trample yet another block in its path. The impurities were being cleansed, one by one. The grainy, lumpy sand was being burnt, smoothed, and purified into clear, beautiful glass. A reflection of herself, as flawless as the still, midday waters of Pingfang Bay. Confident there would be no interruption, she breathed slowly before speaking.

"I will deal with Iroh," Zuko firmly announced.

Azula stumbled. Her plan was _supposed _to be _perfect_. But there was no mistaking the stare Azula gazed into. He meant it. Every single word. Zuko remained still, that nervousness swelling inside him firmly locked tight, as he calmly asserted himself. Ozai was uncertain himself, but it was hard to tell behind those high flames and that darkened face.

"You had better not fail me, Prince Zuko," Ozai spoke to his son impatiently, but Zuko's gaze never wavered.

"I will not fail," Zuko, who for the first time looked straight in his father's shadowed face, "because I know where he is going."

"_What!?_" Ozai flared up again, and stood to face down the scarred prince. Everyone except Zuko and Azula briefly flinched, "tell me where he is! Tell me if you know!"

Zuko paused, still unflinching, and Azula could tell he was gearing up to something large. What could he possibly have up his sleeve? He'd know where his uncle is if he helped the old kook escape, but then why free him in the first place? Zuko spoke with absolute certainty, "it is my belief that the Avatar is alive, and I believe Iroh knows this as well."

Azula was not used to being stunned. It didn't come naturally to her. She took upsets and miscalculations as minor upsets in the grander narrative of her drive to perfection, but right now she was calculating a 50/50 chance between the Fire Lord either being too shocked to reject Zuko's insane announcement or roasting him right now for his incredulity. Amazingly, as Ozai slumped back down, it turned out to be the former.

"You will not have many resources for this fool's errand, Zuko," Ozai subtly threatened, "but regardless of the Avatar, you must bring me Iroh's corpse or I will have yours!"

"I will, father, and I do not need many resources," Zuko confidently stated, "Iroh will search for the Avatar, or his companions, and when he finds them…we will have them both in our grasp."

Azula was starting to sense the machinations in Zuko's mind. Fine, she thought, let Zuzu have his well-laid plans. She was going to track down his mysterious alter ego, and make an _example _of the deluded, imperfect, scarred prince. The greatest example of all the imperfections she would rid the world of, picked apart to the bone and ground into fine powder.

The Fire Lord's commands were set in flame, there in the red, humid confines of the hard-surfaced throne room, and Ozai's children set about their tasks, one way or another.

* * *

The sun was directly overhead now, and the group had sat down next to the bill-board with their backs against it, apart from Toph who lay some distance away in the middle of the road, arms clutched around knees and head hidden away from the rest, breathing steadily but fretfully. The rest looked down at the ground in front of them, utterly lost. Momo was looking at all of them with interest, but they paid no attention to the winged lemur. They had lost all urge to do anything except slowly melt in the middle of that clearing.

"That's it, I'm tired of giving up!" Sokka smacked a fist against the ground, "no matter what, we need to keep going!"

"That's nice, Sokka, but I'm not done moping yet," Katara explained with little effort behind her voice, "there's nowhere to _go_ to. The only Firebending masters who could help us are all gone."

"Oh sheesh! Couldn't we find a Firebending teacher from around here and just _not say _Aang's the Avatar!?" Sokka gesticulated.

"That's not how it works, Sokka," Aang commented, looking up at the warrior, "there must be absolute trust between a teacher and their student. You just can't trick a master and expect to learn bending, especially since we've got less than three months to do it in."

"Okay, okay, scratch that and your stupid magical 'trust' thing…" Sokka pondered in a funk, "we just _can't _let the Fire Nation win!"

"We can do the best we can," Katara sighed, coming to terms with things, "we can help in the defence of our homes, and frustrate the Fire Nation however we can."

"The best we can do isn't good enough," Aang concluded, "when the comet arrives, there won't be anything we can do that would make more than a dent against the Firebenders. There's only one thing that can stop the Fire Nation now, that can bring peace…and I can't do it…"

The final conclusion was so abjectly true that it ended the conversation right there. Sokka's one moment of pro-action shot to pieces. Nearly unnoticed, Toph's head poked out from out of her arms towards the direction of the nearest road, and she achingly rose to her feet, saying brokenly, "there are soldiers coming."

"We can't take any chances, we have to hide," Katara rose to her feet and picked up Momo to be moved, while Sokka picked up the backpacks and ran quickly towards the trees. Toph followed hesitantly, eyes hidden by her tufts of black hair but cheeks bright, patchy red. They were all inside the tree cover before Sokka turned to notice Aang was still leaning up against the bill-board.

"Aang! What are you doing!?" Sokka whispered harshly. The boy took no notice of him, and just sat there unmoving. There was nothing they could do then as the Fire Nation soldiers approached the bill-board. They just hoped the Avatar knew what the heck he was doing.

The soldiers that approached numbered only three, not enough for a regular patrol, and marched irregularly. The moustached leader of the squad held a bundle of posters in his left hand and a pike in his right. When they noticed the red-clothed boy leaning against the bill-board, they paused in their tracks until the leader came slowly forward and knelt down next to the fuzzy-haired kid.

"Hi there, little guy," the soldier remarked warmly, "what are you doing all the way out here all by yourself?"

The sandal-footed boy looked mildly startled, as if knocked out of a deep rest, and he giggled a little, embarrassed, "sorry mister, I guess I just zoned out there. Don't worry, I'm just waiting for someone. He won't be long."

"Yeah well, tell your dad to be more careful next time he leaves you around," the leader stood back up again, "could you move, kid? We need to put a couple of posters up."

"Oh! Sorry!" the boy stood up and dusted himself off, moving aside as to let one of the other soldiers walk up to the bill-board and splatter paste across a swathe of it, "I don't want to be in your way. Oh hey! You want me to show you this new game I thought up?"

The leader analysed the kid for a good few moments before finally relenting, smiling expressively, "I think I'm ready to be impressed."

"Okay," the 12-year-old leant down to pick up a stick, and drew a circle in the dust, "what you do is, you draw a circle, and point the stick in the middle. Then you just let the stick wander all over the circle, moving whichever way your mind wanders, and just let your brain rest while you're doing it."

The kid did a little experiment, and came up with, unsurprisingly, a blobby mess. Wanting to try it out, the leader handed his soldiers the posters and leant down to take the stick and draw a circle of his own, following the boy's instructions, "you know what, kid? I might remember this. It's actually pretty relaxing."

"I know! And you can have some fun figuring out what the shapes are," the boy claimed. The soldier did so, and briefly chortled to himself before ruffling up the kid's hair with his hand.

"You know what? You're a good kid," the leader noticed the bill-board work was finished, and stood up to lead the soldiers away, while reaching into his pocket and producing a small copper coin, flicking it towards the boy, "here's for the game. Your father must be proud to have such a smart little guy."

"Thanks, mister!" the small, fragile boy caught the penny in mid-air and waved the soldiers away. As soon as the soldiers were out of Toph-distance, the group wandered out of the trees in something approaching a daze. It was like they were watching a completely different person just now. Toph couldn't even tell he was lying, but then again he gave few clues during the conversation. He just seemed like a…cute…Fire Nation…kid.

"What was all _that _about!?" Sokka floundered, "you could have been caught! And then all our hopes really _would _have bought the big one! What were you _thinking_!?"

"I don't know…I just…did it," Aang looked down at the copper piece, confused with himself, "but hey, we got some money out of it!"

Aang flicked the coin cheerfully up towards Sokka, who grabbed it while continuing to stare _evilly _at the red-clothed, sandal-wearing, short-haired…_Firebending_…young boy. Katara was too surprised to pass comment on Aang's performance, only feeling a tinge of concern. He acted like nothing happened, but it was so huge, he just acted like…a normal kid. She didn't know where to order it, whether it was even good or bad, and her attention drifted to the first of the posters pasted onto the edge of the bill-board. An electric shock jolted up her spine.

"Iroh's alive…" Katara rushed forward to look at the familiar face illustrated on the poster, the late answer to all their dreams bursting through the haze of disappointment, "Toph! Iroh's ali-"

"Yeah, I knew it the whole time," Toph dismissed cheerfully. She had abruptly appeared right behind Katara, and apart from the puffy red around her eyes and convulsive sniffing there was little evidence that Toph had even been overly concerned, much less distraught. Toph had her arms crossed, "so did he escape?"

"Yeah!" Katara read excitedly, "in the middle of the night, right under the Fire Lord's nose! He's on the run right now! The poster wants people to keep a look out."

"Wow. All the way out here?" Aang pondered, wandering forward and smiling at the kind, authoritative face looking back out of the poster. Their hearts finally felt as warm as the scorching day, now they had such an ally on their side. Aang sighed, "he's _that _good, isn't he?"

"You bet," Toph let relief seep into her confident speech, and Momo had flown up onto her shoulder to look at the posters with them…even though they weren't particularly edible. Toph smiled, "he'll help us. I'm sure of it."

"We've got more on our side than just the Dragon of the West, you know," Sokka peered at the second poster, "look at the handsome face that rescued him."

Aang's eyes wandered over to the second poster, and abruptly seemed to shrink in their sockets. He was staring at a mask, painted blue, with fearsome white tusks and terrible black eyes. He'd seen that face before, and he never wanted to see it again.

"The Blue Spirit is in the Fire Nation?" Katara interceded almost as excitedly as before, "this is even better news!"

"Hey yeah, I heard of the Blue Spirit!" Toph interjected, "he's meant to be this super-dangerous masked man who fights against the Fire Nation."

"Not _quite _as dangerous as us, I hope," Sokka crossed his arms pleasingly, "but I guess we can give him a head-start."

"I just wish we knew who he was," Katara sighed at the illustration of the masked man.

"Yeah…me too…" Aang murmured, staring into the eyes of the mask. He felt himself being sucked into their darkness. To Katara and the others the Blue Spirit was a romantic hero, a brave fighter for their side in the struggle. But when Aang saw into those eyes he felt the sharp broadswords against his neck, the voiceless menace, and the scarred face behind that mask.

Toph could sense something going on with Aang, and raised an eyebrow towards him. She couldn't fathom his relationship with the Blue Spirit, of all people, a man of myth who she didn't even think was real until just now. Saving Iroh from the heart of the Fire Nation of all things.

"All that matters is that he freed Iroh, that's more important than anything," Sokka reminded them all of his importance, "he's free now, no thanks to a certain Fire Prince I could name-"

"Sokka, stop it," Katara said calmly and earnestly, turning her eyes away.

"Well…I _didn't_…" Sokka protested. Toph could sense that same sense of hurt in Katara again. People were hiding things, acting strangely.

"We need to help Iroh," Toph tried to get the discussion back on its most important topic, "we have an obligation to help him."

"As much as we need him to teach Aang Firebending," Sokka argued, "there's not much we can do until he gets out of the Fire Nation."

"He's not coming out," Aang looked at both the posters, "_we're _the ones going _in_."

"Aang…" Katara started, stopping herself as Aang turned to face them all. All their attention, even Momo's, was rapt on the small, fragile figure, the most important in all the world.

Aang looked on all 4 of them, animal and human alike. He could tell they already knew what he was going to say, but now he wasn't sure it was the Avatar's job to say it…to these, his closest friends. But Aang wasn't sure he could say it. In that clearing along the Fire Nation-built colonial road through the dense forest, under the hot summer sun, humid beyond reason and hundreds of _li _from where this journey started, a new path opened up before them, a path a hundred times more dangerous than before, and a path he wasn't sure any of them would emerge from alive. Here, he couldn't speak as the Avatar, that great and powerful being beyond the reach and scope of mere mortals. He had to speak as Aang. He had to speak as the 12-year-old boy with a hole in his back, the decider in a group of vulnerable children, responsible for the entire world, having chosen a fate that none of them were under any illusions would be easy, only that it had to be done.

"We're going to the Fire Nation."

**End of Chapter 1**

**Do you want to save? - _YesNo_**

**Insert Chapter 2 To Continue…**

**_Avatar: The Last Airbender _**Concept and Characters © Nickelodeon 2005-06


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